Putting Best Practices to Work www.qualityprogress.

com | January 2008

QUALITY PROGRESS | JANUARY 2008

QUALITY PROGRESS

A Complex
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A COMPLEX SYSTEM

NASA’s Challenger:
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p. 40

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 Putting Best Practices to Work | January 2008 | www.qualityprogress.com

Contents
FEATURES 22
22 PROBLEM SOLVING
Conflict and Complexity
Advanced problem solving and logical thinking techniques used today—like
TRIZ and the evaporating cloud—might have broken the chain of events that
led to the space shuttle Challenger disaster.
by H. William Dettmer

30 LEAN SIX SIGMA

A Less Costly Billing Process
Applying lean Six Sigma to a company’s billing process can equal
fewer bookkeeping blunders and lead to fewer customer complaints.
by Lakshmi U. Tatikonda

Lean Six Sigma’s Evolution

40 There’s more than one way to run a project using lean Six Sigma. Organiza-
tions have created their own models of this method and put their own mark
on how it’s deployed.
by Douglas P. Mader

ONLY @
www.qualityprogress.com
50 EDUCATION
Lessons Learned
Members of the corporate world • Exclusive Content
might want to study the successful Web-only sidebars to the
continuous improvement efforts of
‘Lessons Learned’ article.
one California school district.
by Maurice Ghysels
• Tools and Resources
Career development.

• Articles by Topic
Find additional information
on specific subjects.

• Talk Back
Comment on and rate the
articles in this issue.

50
 DEPARTMENTS
10

14
Expert Answers
• Soft dollars and the bottom line.
• Process maps: Where do you end?

Keeping Current
• Quality expert on recalls.
QP QUALITY PROGRESS
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vfunk@asq.org).
86 QP Toolbox
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88 QP Reviews 14 Quality Progress is a peer-reviewed publica-
tion with 85% of its feature articles written
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90 QP Calendar about submitting an article, call Valerie Funk
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6 UpFront 75 Career Corner asq.org.
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59 Special Advertising Feature: Lean Six Sigma Showcase and Directory For more than 60 years, ASQ has been the
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4 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 UPFRONT
QP
PUBLISHER
QUALITY PROGRESS

A New Page William A. Tony

EDITOR
Seiche Sanders

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
QP debuts its print and web redesigns Mark Edmund

ASSISTANT EDITOR
Brett Krzykowski
I’VE NEVER BEEN one to view New Year’s resolutions as an efficient approach to ef-
MANUSCRIPT COORDINATOR
fecting positive change—the concept just seems counterintuitive to the logic behind con- Valerie Funk
tinuous improvement. I figure, if you want something done, do it—now. Why arbitrarily
EDITOR AT LARGE
wait for January 1? Susan E. Daniels
This year is different. It is with great excitement that I introduce the newly redesigned CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
QP, and its digital counterpart, www.qualityprogress.com—the culmination of nearly a Nicole Adrian

year’s worth of hard work and long hours by editors, designers, web staff and our IT and COPY EDITORS
Susan Gronemus
production workgroups. I cannot thank all of them enough for their contributions. Kelly Sullivan
This occasion and its timing call for a resolution, so here goes: I hope to make QP and
ART DIRECTOR
qualityprogress.com the best information resources available to quality professionals Mary Uttech
today and in the future.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
These redesigns build upon the solid groundwork my predecessors have laid, all with Sandy Wyss
the voice of the customer (reader) at the top of our mind. PRODUCTION
As we approached the redesign of the print version, our focus was on clean, clear pre- Cathy Schnackenberg

sentation while carving out a distinct but professional personality. The result? The pages ADVERTISING PRODUCTION
Barbara Mitrovic
look modern and fresh but remain completely accessible.
Based on results of our readership surveys, it was no surprise that content emerged DIGITAL PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS
Eric Berna, Laura Franceschi
as king, and, for the most part, you asked for more of the same. So we left most features,
columns and departments intact. A notable exception is the addition of the Expert An- MEDIA SALES MANAGER
Erica Gumieny
swers department, which you’ll find on p. 10. Readers said they were hungry for practi-
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
cal, quick answers to questions they run up against each day. The department fulfills that Angela M. Mitchell
need. Each month, Expert Answers will address a range of topics, from quality manage- Mitchell Pezanoski

ment system implementation to the definitions of common statistical terms. If you’ve got CLASSIFIED/RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING
Ramona Garcia
a question, please e-mail it to me for consideration.
The website redesign and relaunch presented an even greater opportunity to gear the MARKETING ADMINISTRATOR
Matt Meinholz
new look and capabilities to reader needs. Newly added features guarantee a month-
long continuum of what you get from the print edition, allowing you to bridge the gap EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICES
Phone: 414-272-8575
between issues to quench your thirst for quality knowledge—on any topic—at any time. Fax: 414-272-1734
Within the context of the clean, distinct design are updates affording the modern con- ASQ ADMINISTRATION
veniences of electronic storage, sharing, accessing, browsing, searching and social net- Executive Director
Paul E. Borawski
working. There is a Quick Poll, allowing you to see how your opinions stack up against
Managing Directors
those of your peers, plus featured quality tools, and, of course, daily news headlines. Christopher D. Bauman
We’ve also made it easy to share your favorite articles with colleagues. Our hope is Brian J. Lehouillier
Michelle Mason
that once they see the merit of these articles, they’ll see the value in joining ASQ—and Laurel Nelson-Rowe
the benefits of QP—for themselves. And, as ASQ grows, so will interest and support of To promote discussion of issues in the field of quality and ensure
the quality profession. coverage of all responsible points of view, Quality Progress
publishes articles representing conflicting and minority views.
The site takes into consideration the diverse interests of our audience. We made it Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily
of ASQ or Quality Progress. Use of the ASQ logo in advertisements
intuitive and easy to browse the site to find and save articles that fit your specific does not necessarily constitute endorsement of that particular
product or service by ASQ.

6 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 UPFRONT

interests. Click on the Industries and Topics headings to find dozens of categories that
lead to articles you can peruse. Suggestions for related articles enhance the user’s experi-
QP
CHAIR OF THE BOARD
QUALITY PROGRESS

ence by surfacing dynamically within the article pages. Ronald D. Atkinson, General Motors
And there’s more. Much more. But don’t take my word for it. Visit www.quality
PRESIDENT
progress.com and find out for yourself. Michael D. Nichols, Nichols Quality Associates
As always, QP editors are committed to bringing you the trends and expert views that
PRESIDENT-ELECT
shape the quality field, and we strive to offer them to you in ways you value and expect. Roberto M. Saco, Aporia Advisors
This, above all, is our commitment. But, we need reader input, feedback and contribu- TREASURER
tions to make sure we’re meeting your needs as readers. E. David Spong, Boeing (retired)

May I ask for a resolution from you? Actually, two. First, tell us: What about our new PARLIAMENTARIAN
design and website works, and what doesn’t? Don’t be shy. We realize we can’t expect James J. Rooney Jr., ABS Consulting

DIRECTORS
Jochen Amelsberg, APC International
We need reader input, feed- Belinda Chavez, United Space Alliance
Brenda M. Fisk, Software Quality Solutions
Richard A. Gould, RG Management Solutions

back and contributions to make Kamla P. Gupta, Continuous Improvement

Technology
Stephen K. Hacker, Transformation Systems
International
sure we’re meeting your needs. Gary L. Johnson, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
Kay A. Kendall, Sun Microsystems
William H. LaFollette, Humana Inc.
Lou Ann Lathrop, General Motors
David B. Levy, Levy Quality Consulting
perfection right out of the gate, but we’ll continue to fix any glitches and enhance usability. Richard A. Litts, Litts Quality Technologies
Second, if you find the new magazine and website are stronger, better and of more Richard F. McKeever, D2 Quality Associates
Aimee H. Siegler, Benchmark Electronics
value to you in your life and work than ever, tell us, and tell others. Share QP with a Donald C. Singer, GlaxoSmithKline
friend or colleague who might feel the same way. Perhaps your recommendation will Steven E. Wilson, U.S. Department of
Commerce Seafood Inspection Program
help someone get their new year started off on the right foot.
QP EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD
Randy Brull, chair
In this issue
Administrative Committee
Even with everything that’s new this month, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Roger Berger, Brady Boggs, Randy Brull, Jane
great lineup of articles we have for you. Campanizzi, Larry Haugh, Jim Jaquess, Gary
MacLean, Christine Robinson, Richard Stump
H. William Dettmer’s cover story (p. 22) offers thought-provoking insight on how quality
Technical reviewers
approaches used today, such as TRIZ and evaporating cloud, might have intercepted the qual- I. Elaine Allen, Andy Barnett, David Bonyuet,
ity lapses leading up to the space shuttle Challenger disaster. The article also illustrates how John Brown, Bernie Carpenter, Ken Cogan,
Linda Cubalchini-Travis, Ahmad Elshennawy,
putting business considerations ahead of engineering recommendations can prove deadly. Tim Folkerts, Eric Furness, Mark Gavoor,
Kunita Gear, Lynne Hare, Ron Kenett,
Two articles cover one of the most popular quality topics of the day: lean Six Sigma. Ray Klotz, Tom Kubiak, William LaFollette,
“A Less Costly Billing Process,” p. 30, describes a method for shoring up billing Shin Ta Liu, Pradip Mehta, Gene Placzkowski,
Paul Plsek, Tony Polito, Peter Pylipow,
errors—and boosting customer satisfaction—by identifying the reasons behind dissat- Philip Ramsey, R. Dan Reid, Wayne Reynolds,
isfaction (many came as a surprise to the improvement team) and using lean Six Sigma John Richards, James Rooney, Anil Sengupta,
Sunil Thawani, Joe Tunner, John Vaks,
tools to make significant improvements. Manu Vora, Jack Westfall, James Zurn
“Lean Six Sigma’s Evolution,” p. 40, describes how lean and Six Sigma have been
brought together—under various industries’ influences—to produce an array of models
practitioners can build upon.

Seiche Sanders
Editor

8 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 You’re there.
You’re here, you’re there, you’re in places you’ve never been, discovering things you never expected.
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 EXPERTANSWE
Soft dollars vs. the bottom line
Q: Last week I made a proposal to my com-
pany’s executive management team that
showed how we could save money by tar-
geting certain processes for improvement.
Although they agreed that the improve-
ments would be beneficial to the company,
the executives argued that most of the
savings were in soft dollars. To be given any
serious consideration, the savings needed
to be dollars that impacted the bottom line.
What are they looking for?
A: It would be best to follow up with your
executive management team to better
understand what they mean by soft dollars.
Soft dollars can refer to improvements that
result in a reduction of the number of steps
or the time it takes to execute a process.
You can calculate the costs of the steps
or time eliminated by a process improve-
ment, then multiply it by the number of
repetitions per year to come up with an
annual savings projection. Some executives
might refer to this savings as soft dollars
because they might not impact the bottom
line—or net income—of the company.
Process improvements that will affect
the bottom line will either increase sales or
reduce costs. Reducing these costs would
likely impact the bottom line: materials or
inventory used; maintenance and repairs;
utilities; payroll (not a popular one!); and
other items that require the company to
spend money.
A reduction in process time can impact
the bottom line if the time saved can be
used to increase production, as long as
there is sufficient demand. Process time re-
duction can also impact the top line (sales)
if, for example, design cycle time is reduced
and the product is brought to market quick-
er, which might lead to increased sales.
10 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
Process improvements could also
improve the quality and/or reliability of
products and services, which might lead
to increased customer satisfaction, higher
sales and increased net income. You might
want to work with your accounting depart-
ment to discuss how your improvements
will affect the bottom line and then present
a revised proposal to your executive man-
agement team.
Ken Cogan, ken.cogan@intelsat.com
Senior manager, performance management
Intelsat
How low can you go?
Q: I do a lot of process mapping with
teams at my organization. Usually, we
start with a high level map of the process
and then break down the process of inter-
est. This approach continues for some
time. However, I’m never really sure when
to stop process mapping the process. How
far should I drill down?
A: What you are describing is illustrated
in Figure 1, which represents a generic
breakdown of processes within any type of
Process breakdown
Core business
processes
Processes
Subprocesses
Activities/steps
organization. Although only four levels are
depicted in the figure, there can be multiple
levels of processes and sub-processes.
I don’t believe there is an absolute
answer to your question because practi-
cal considerations always come into play.
However, the following 10 rules of thumb
can serve as the basis for determining
when to stop:
• An activity or step can be attributed to
a specific individual or job family. In this
case, accountability has been achieved.
• An activity or step can no longer feasibly
be decomposed. Further decomposition
might require dropping into the domain
of time and motion study.
• The time required to measure the
process exceeds the time required to
perform the process. (This might not be
known in advance.)
• The cost required to measure the
process exceeds the value-add of the
process. (This might not be known in
advance.)
• Responsibility for performing the process
transfers out of the organization—when
the process is outsourced, for example.
/ FIGURE 1
RS
• Responsibility for performing the process
falls outside of the process boundaries
you established at the beginning of your
mapping activity. Rememb er, bound your
process mapping activity or you’ll never
complete it.
• Root causes become evident.
• The seven (sometimes eight) categories
of waste become evident.
• The subject matter experts (SMEs)
cannot agree on the “as is” process.
When this situation occurs, it could be
construed as a signal that the current
process has become so complex that
it should be discontinued and replaced
with a new one.
Or, perhaps the SMEs are no longer true
SMEs. Perhaps organizational turnover has
been such that currently designated SMEs no
longer possess the necessary process knowl-
edge. I ran into this situation quite a few years
ago working on an organization’s short-term
and long-term disability processes. All the
knowledge experts had been replaced three
or four times over. The team could never
reach agreement on the “as is” process.
• A process (or subprocess) owner has not
or can not be identified. If this situation
occurs, there is no one who can autho-
rize process changes.
Remember, these 10 guidelines are rules
of thumb and are not absolute. Also, one or
more guidelines might be in effect at any
given time.
Tom Kubiak, tmkubiak@alltel.net
President, TK Performance
Improvement Solutions
To tighten, or not to tighten...
Q: I am keeping a statistical control chart on
a product measurement. I’d like to tighten the
control limits to require production to make a
better product. When is it OK to do this?
A: You are confusing statistical control
limits with specification limits. The control
limits are based on the actual product
measurement data and tell you whether
the manufacturing process is stable, and, if
so, what average and variation it can be ex-
pected to maintain as long as the process
is unchanged. If control limits are violated,
it tells you something has changed.
This could be good or bad, depending
on the change. You should not change the
control limits unless the chart tells you the
process has changed and you are OK with
the change.
The specification limits are based on
performance requirements and should
be determined by design factors and
customer expectations. If these require-
ments change—if a customer wants a
more consistent product, for example—
then you need to change the specifica-
tion limits.
The relationship between product
specifications and statistical control
limits is defined by the notion of pro-
cess capability. This is usually defined
as the ratio achieved when dividing
distance from process average to closer
specification limit by three standard de-
viations of individual data points. Typi-
cally, a ratio of 1.3 or greater is consid-
ered acceptable in terms of consistently
being able to produce product that falls
within specification limits. (Some criti-
cal measures demand larger ratios.) If
it is less than 1.3, you probably need to
do a lot of sorting and work to improve
your process.
Back to your question: Based on your
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR QP’S EXPERTS?
If you would like to submit a question to be considered for Expert Answers,
visit www.qualityprogress.com, or e-mail your question to editor@asq.org.
existing situation, calculate your pro-
cess capability. If it is greater than 1.3, you
can comfortably tighten your specification
limits. If you have made process changes
that have improved your average level or
reduced variation, you can recalculate your
statistical control limits and then recalcu-
late your process capability. Never change
your statistical control limits unless the
data from your process tells you to do so.
However, you should change your specifi-
cation limits if there is a product require-
ment reason to do so. In any case, use the
process capability measure to assess the
practical impact of a specification change.
Many statistical software packages pro-
vide easy calculation of process capability.
Joe Tunner, joetunner@aol.com
Consultant
Definition, please?
Q: Mean, median, average, and mode.
What’s the difference?
A: The first three terms are measures of
central tendency. Most people agree that
average and mean are one and the same.
While many of us understand that mean is
the arithmetic average of all measurements
in a data set, there are other variations
of mean. Median is the middle number or
center value of a set of data in which all
the data are arranged in sequence. Mode
is the value occurring most frequently in a
data set. Many of these definitions can be
found in the QP Quality Glossary (www.asq.
org/glossary/m.html).
Ken Cogan
January 2008 • QP 11
 KEEPINGCURRE
PRODUCT SAFETY
Message to Firms Using Overseas
Manufacturers: ‘Get Over There’
I
It’s not enough for Chinese manufacturers to use quality practices
to ensure safe products. American corporate management teams
must better understand product safety and liability prevention to
avoid product failures, recalls and potential disasters.
And the teams need to “get over there” and look at what their
overseas suppliers are doing, according to one quality expert who
specializes in product safety and liability.
“For the immediate future, American companies better ensure
that they’re getting what they’re paying for, and not depend on
anyone else for such assurance,” said Randy Goodden, chairman of
ASQ’s product safety and liability prevention interest group.
14 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
“That means that they have to get over there and monitor the
production of their own products, or hire a reliable third party to
inspect and monitor the production for them,” he said.
According to Associated Press reports, last year Mattel Inc.
recalled 21 million toys
based on fears they
were tainted with lead
paint and included tiny
magnets that children
“ American companies
better ensure that they’re
getting what they’re pay-
ing for, and not depend
could swallow. Mattel’s on anyone else for such
assurance.
own tests on the toys
found that they had
”
lead levels up to 200 times the government-mandated limit.
Last month, a coalition of environmental and health organiza-
tions released test results on 1,200 toys and children’s products
that found 35% contained lead, many with levels far above the
federal recall standard used for lead paint.
“The final answer to the ‘China syndrome’ will ultimately involve
concerted efforts on the part of the Chinese suppliers, the Ameri-
can corporate customers and government agencies in both coun-
tries assuring that the products being manufactured and shipped
are safe and reliable,” Goodden said.
The recent toy recalls should be a sobering reminder of the
tremendous risk and liability issues for all American companies that
have their products made overseas.
American companies often don’t comprehend the “unrecog-
nized liability risk” if something goes wrong with their products
made overseas, he said.
“If the off-shore supplier doesn’t maintain a presence in the
United States, or if other special provisions aren’t initiated, the
American company will end up being fully liable for such incidents,
with no legal recourse against their off-shore supplier,” Goodden
added. “The concern involves more than just toys.
“We have to keep in mind that 40% of all consumer products
imported into the United States are from China, and roughly 70% of
all products recalled this year were from China,” Goodden said.
—Mark Edmund
NT
STANDARDS
ISO 26000 WORKING GROUP
SESSION DRAWS 400
The recent Vienna, Austria, meeting of the International Orga-
nization for Standardization’s (ISO) working group on social re-
sponsibility, which is developing the ISO 26000 standard, drew
record participation of 400 experts representing six stakeholder
groups.
Stakeholder groups included industry, government, labor,
consumers and nongovernmental organizations. Participants
discussed the third working draft of ISO 26000 and resolved
enough topics to enable work to begin on a fourth draft.
ISO 26000 will contain guidance, not requirements. It is not a
management system standard and will not be used as a certifi-
cation standard.
The next meeting of the working group will be in Santiago,
Chile, in September. On behalf of the American National Standards
Institute, ASQ is administering the U.S. technical advisory group to
ISO technical committee 207, which is writing the standard.
EVENTS
ENGINEERS WEEK FEB. 17-23
This year’s Engineers Week is slated for Feb. 17-23. The week is
the culmination of many events designed to increase interest
in engineering and technology among young students and to
promote precollege literacy in math and science.
Engineers Week activities include:
• Design Squad, a invention contest for 9- to 12-year-olds.
• The Future City Competition, in which middle school students
work with teachers and engineers to create cities of tomorrow.
• DiscoverE, in which engineers work with students and teach-
ers through classroom visits and extracurricular activities.
• Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, in which engineers men-
tor students in grades K-12.
• Engineers Without Borders, which delivers sustainable engi-
neering solutions to communities in need.
• New Faces of Engineering, which recognizes achievements
of young engineers who have been in the workforce for five
years or less.
For information on these programs and other projects during
Engineers Week, go to www.eweek.org.
Who’s Who in
NAME: David B. Levy.
RESIDENCE: Cortlandt Manor, NY.
Q
EDUCATION: Master’s degree in operations management,
Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY.
FIRST JOB IN/RELATED TO QUALITY: Quality assurance
manager/quality assurance engineer at Russell Plastics
Technology Co., Lindenhurst, NY.
CURRENT JOB: Principal quality consul-
tant, Levy Quality Consulting Co.
PREVIOUS JOBS: Levy has been involved
in the quality profession for more than
20 years as a director, manager, engineer,
auditor and independent consultant.
INTRODUCTION TO QUALITY: In his first
real job as a lab technician, he tested materials prior to
use by manufacturing and released acceptable materials.
He also requalified shelf-life controlled materials. At the
time, he did not realize he was actually performing quality
control activities.
ASQ ACTIVITIES: Levy is a senior member of ASQ and
holds four certifications: manager of quality/organizational
excellence, quality engineer, quality auditor and quality
improvement associate. He is an ASQ board member, the
regional director for Region 3 and vice chair of the section
affairs council, and is active in the Tappan Zee section.
OTHER ACTIVITIES/ACHIEVEMENTS: Levy has served on
several ASQ teams and committees, including the nominat-
ing and research committees, section affairs council, the
Ideas to Action gathering design team and the SOAR educa-
tion and training initiative structure team.
RECENT HONOR: Received the R. Shaw Goldthwait Award
from the North East Quality Council in 2007.
PERSONAL: Married, father of two.
FAVORITE WAYS TO RELAX: Skiing, swimming, traveling,
music, reading and spending time with his family.
QUALITY QUOTE: How we do it is based on data. Why we
do it is based on emotion.
January 2008 • QP 15
MAKE THE SWITCH TO THE UNPARALLELED
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KEEPINGCURRENT
AWARDS

INDIAN COMPANIES LEAD AT DEMING PRIZE CEREMONY

Four Indian companies took home 2007 Deming Prizes, including The Deming Prizes are
the Japan Quality Medal, during ceremonies recently in Tokyo. The sponsored by the Joint Union
companies honored at the annual event included: of Scientists and Engineers
• Asahi India Glass Ltd. (auto glass division) and Rane (Madras) (JUSE). About 300 people
Ltd., an auto parts manufacturer, were both awarded the Dem- attended the annual event,
ing Application Prize. including W. Edwards Dem-
• Reliance Industries Ltd. (Hariza manufacturing division), an energy ing’s daughter, Diana Deming
company, was awarded the Quality Control Award for operations’ Cahill, and her family.
business units. Reliance is India’s largest private sector company. Others were recognized
W. Edwards Deming (in 1986) from
• Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (farm equipment sector), the third during the ceremony for vari-
the video “The Experiment With the
largest maker of tractors in the world, received the Japan Quality ous achievements, including: Red Beads–Implications for Manage-
Medal. Total quality manage- ment.”
At the ceremony, two of these award recipients discussed the ment—Anritsu Techmac Co.
importance of quality and their companies’ ongoing commitment Ltd., Nabtesco Corp. (Seishin plant manufacturing division) and
to quality. Yukiguni Maitake Co. Ltd. (production division and research and
“Quality management has enabled us to unlock the ability for development department).
more creativity and massive improvements,” said Sanjay Labroo, Quality innovation—Corona Co. (manufacturing division), Com-
Asahi’s CEO. “We are on a never-ending journey and accept this puter Institute of Japan Ltd. (wide business division and systems
award as a milestone on this long journey.” integration business division), CBM Co. Ltd. of Citizen Group and
H.S. Kohli, Reliance’s executive director, echoed those sentiments. Nissan Shatai Co. Ltd.
“I’m committed to quality, and we will continue our journey and Masayoshi Ushikubo, the chairman of Sanden Corp., a Japanese
spread the movement,” Kohli said. compressor manufacturer, received the Deming Prize for individu-
The ceremony and prizes commemorate W. Edwards Deming’s als. Ushikubo was recognized for his leadership in helping his
contribution to transforming post World War II Japan into a global company and others adopt the Deming quality philosophy.
competitor by promoting quality concepts and teaching a new —Marcia Daszko
management philosophy that would deliver quality. The first awards Editor’s note: Daszko, an independent consultant based in California, attended the ceremony
were in 1951 at the first Quality Control Congress. in Tokyo. She was a mentee of W. Edwards Deming.

Mr. Pareto Head BY MIKE CROSSEN

January 2008 • QP 17
 KEEPINGCURRENT
GOVERNMENT

Executive Order Requires Performance

Tracking of All Federal Agencies
Perhaps signaling a renewed commitment toward improving government performance,
President Bush issued an executive order in late November requiring more accountability
of federal agencies.
The order requires agencies to set goals, develop ways to measure progress, use
performance data in budget requests and set up websites to describe “the successes,
shortfalls and challenges of each program,” and efforts to improve them, the Washington
Post reported.
The order mandates that each agency appoint a performance improvement officer to
coordinate “sufficiently aggressive” goals and plans for programs, according to the Post
article. The order also creates a performance improvement council in the Office of Man-
agement and Budget so that agencies and the office can coordinate efforts.
To view the entire executive order, visit www.whitehouse.gov/index.html, and refer to
“Executive Orders” located under the News section.

ASQNEWS
TRAINING FOR K-12 TEACHERS New
training has been developed by ASQ for
teachers to use quality concepts and tools
with their students. The suite of modular
training courses—called ImpaQT Training
for the Classroom—can be delivered in
a three-day, on-site program and covers:
development of vision, mission and goals;
continuous improvement and quality tools;
motivation and planning; and quality tools
for data display. Similar training modules
geared toward principals and superinten-
dents are also in the works.
MEMBERS TO ASQ: GO GLOBAL ASQ
should become more active in countries
outside of North America and respond to
the growing interest in quality manage-
ment and control throughout the world.
That’s what 80% of ASQ members said in
a recent survey conducted by ASQ’s inter-
national transformation task force. ASQ
must adapt to each country and develop an
incremental strategy, members said.
TWO NEW SECTIONS CREATED The
board of directors recently approved the
formation of two new sections: Newfound-
land and Labrador Section 413 and Central
Wisconsin 1218. This brings the total num-
ber of ASQ sections to 255.
MEMBERS RECOGNIZED
Susan O. Schall, a senior
member of ASQ, was recently
named a fellow of the Ac-
creditation Board for Engi-
Schall
neering and Technology. Navin
S. Dedhia, an ASQ fellow,
recently received the Asia
Pacific Quality Organization’s
Harrington-Ishikawa Medal.
Dedhia
MEMBERSHIP VALUE
QUANTIFED An ASQ membership is worth
more than $10,000, according to focus
groups attendees who were asked over the
last three years to place dollar figures on
various ASQ membership benefits. Focus
group members quantified what they
thought various ASQ benefits were worth,
including certification, networking, training,
sections, opportunities for involvement and
leadership, credibility with customers, and
division and forums.
ASQ DIVISIONS TO HOST CONFER-
ENCE Three ASQ divisions are combining
efforts to host a conference in March on
quality, government and regulations. The
Government, Biomedical, and Food, Drug
and Cosmetic divisions have planned
the two-day conference March 27-28 in
Alexandria, VA. For more information, visit
any of the division websites (www.asq.org/
gov, www.asq.org/biomed or www.asq.org/
fdc) or e-mail David Manalan at dmanalan@
alum.MIT.edu.

18 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
BALDRIGE AWARD
2008 APPLICATION
DEADLINES NEAR
Four deadlines related to applying for
the 2008 Malcolm Baldrige National
Quality Awards (MBNQA) are approach-
ing:
• March 7 for submitting an eligibility
certification package that includes a
nomination to the MBNQA Board of
Examiners.
• April 8 for submitting an eligibil-
ity certification package without a
nomination to the MBNQA Board of
Examiners.
• May 8 for submitting the 2008 applica-
tion package in CD/PDF format.
• May 22 for submitting the 2008 ap-
plication package on paper.
The National Institute of Standards
and Technology manages the award
for the Department of Commerce. The
awards are presented annually by the
U.S. president. ASQ administers and is a
sponsor of the MBNQA.
Award application and eligibility forms
are available at www.quality.nist.gov/
Award_Application.htm (case sensitive).
Paper copies of these documents can be
requested at nqp@nist.gov or by calling
301-975-2036.
SHORTRUNS
THE ANSI-ASQ NATIONAL ACCRED-
ITATION BOARD (ANAB) recently
named John J. Knappenberger as its
incoming president. He will oversee
ANAB accreditation programs for
management systems and test and
calibration laboratories. Knappenberger
previously served as vice president of
IT and administration at Dura Automo-
tive Systems Inc. in Rochester Hills, MI.
Knappenberger succeeds Robert H.
King, who announced his retirement
early last year.
AMERICAN HOSPITALS ARE IM-
PROVING the quality of care provided
to patients with heart attacks, heart
failure, pneumonia and surgical condi-
tions, according to a recent report
released by the Joint Commission, a
healthcare accrediting body. The report
also reveals that when hospitals are re-
quired to follow standardized process-
es for quality measurement, reporting
and improvement, performance levels
are more positive. To view the report,
“Improving America’s Hospitals: The
Joint Commission’s Annual Report on
Quality and Safety 2007,” visit www.
jointcommissionreport.org.
HOSPITALS’ ON-CALL COVERAGE
for specialist physicians is suffering
because of high demand, revealed a
recent study by the Center for Study-
ing Health System Change. Hospitals
have responded by enforcing medical
staff bylaws requiring physicians to
take a call, contracting with physicians
to provide coverage, paying physicians
daily or monthly stipends, and employ-
ing specialists. To view the entire
report, visit www.hschange.org/
CONTENT/956/ (case sensitive).
THE 14 INTERNATIONAL STAN-
DARDS that make up the ISO 9000
family of generic quality management
standards are now available in the
paper and CD-ROM editions of The ISO
Standards Collection. Two standards at
the final draft stage are also included.
The book can be purchased from the
International Organization for Stan-
dardization national member institute
(www.ansi.org in the United States).
KPMG’S 2007 GLOBAL MANUFAC-
TURING SURVEY shows that high
performing companies are more con-
cerned with the management burden
of compliance to standards than its
cost, but they are more likely to invest
in compliance. The companies’ percep-
tion of risk is focused on relations with
customers and suppliers. At the same
time, manufacturing in east Asia and
China is seen as problematic. However,
quality failures are viewed as manage-
ment rather than location failures.
To view the entire KPMG survey, visit
www.kpmg.com/industries/im/other/
manufacturingbenchmark2007.htm.
THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY AC-
TION GROUP, Hong Kong Productivity
Council and Economic and Trade Com-
mission of Fujian Province will collabo-
rate to help Chinese suppliers in the
province become global suppliers to
the automotive industry. For details of
the agreement, go to www.aiag.org.
January 2008 • QP 19
 KEEPINGCURRENT
ASQ PRESIDENT-ELECT, BOARD CANDIDATES NAMED
Peter L. Andres has been identified as the candidate for ASQ presi-
dent-elect for the 2008-2009 membership year board of directors.
Andres will become the 60th president of ASQ following next
year’s elections, assuming another candidate doesn’t enter the
election through petition. Andres is a quality engineer of integra-
tion, simulation and testing at Boeing’s future combat systems
program in Huntington Beach, CA.
Other candidates announced for the board of directors:
Director: Aimee H. Siegler, supplier development engineer,
Benchmark Electronics, Winona, MN.
Director: Alexis P. Goncalves, consultant and former senior vice
president, customer experience management, Citigroup—Global
Consumer Division, New York City.
Other candidates announced earlier last year are:
Chairman: Mike Nichols, principal consultant, Nichols Quality
Associates, North Carolina.
President: Roberto M. Saco, owner
and principal, Aporia Advisors Inc.,
Florida.
Treasurer: E. David Spong, consultant
and former president of aerospace sup-
port, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems,
Missouri.
Election rules do not allow candidates
to campaign or have others campaign for
them. Proxies and position statements for
each candidate running for a contested Andres
office will be sent to all regular members by
Feb. 29. The results of the election will be
announced in May during ASQ’s annual business meeting, which will
be held in conjunction with the World Conference on Quality and
Improvement in Houston.

WEBWATCH
This month’s Web Watch focuses on lean
and Six Sigma. For more quality related
websites, visit www.quality progress.com.
www.discover6sigma.org
This site provides basic information on Six
Sigma, including definitions of terms and
descriptions of tools and techniques. It also
features discussions on various Six Sigma
topics, such as distribution, reliability and
variation.
www.asq.org/sixsigma
ASQ’s Six Sigma Forum (SSF) website features
a glossary of Six Sigma and quality terms and
an events calendar for nonmembers. Discus-
sion boards, membership information, a find
a member function, a channel devoted to
Six Sigma beginners and full text articles are
available for SSF members.
buildings. Registration to the website is free
and gives users access to various papers,
including basic lean primers, case studies
and reports on production control, work
structuring, design, lean supply, project
controls and project management. Nonreg-
istered visitors can view a calendar of LCI
events and a lean glossary.
www.nwlean.net
The Northwest Lean Manufacturing Net-
work is a web based community for people
who want to share information on lean
manufacturing. After completing the free
registration, visitors can download papers,
PowerPoint presentations, lean models and
spreadsheets posted by other users. They
can also submit their own tools to share
with fellow network members.
www.lean.org
The Lean Enterprise Institute’s website
sells the organization’s books and train-
ing services but also offers plenty of free
information. Go to the Library tab to see
excerpts and articles from the Institute’s
latest books. Under the Community tab,
find forums, reports, archived discussions,
videos, PowerPoint presentations, survey
results and links to lean organizations
around the world. Registration to the site
is free.
More websites. Links to and descriptions
of these sites and past Web Watch sites
can be found in the cumulative Web Watch
listing under Tools and Resources at www.
qualityprogress.com.

www.leanconstruction.org
The Lean Construction Institute (LCI)
researches lean production management
in designing, engineering and constructing
FOUND AN INTERESTING QUALITY SITE?
If you come across a noncommercial site that could be useful to other quality
professionals, e-mail it to medmund@asq.org.

20 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
2008 ASQ World Conference
on Quality and Improvement
MAY 5-7, 2008 • HOUSTON, TEXAS • GEORGE R. BROWN CONVENTION CENTER

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Rear Adm. T.K.
“Ken” Mattingly
(USN, Ret.)
Apollo 13 Astronaut

Gregory S. Babe
President and
CEO, Bayer
MaterialScience LLC

Quality Is In Everyone’s Job Description GENERATION

Quality is no longer a term solely associated with manufacturing or the quality department.
Instead, it is a goal that is sought after by industries all around the world—from the stockroom
QUALITY
to the boardroom. Join ASQ for the 62nd World Conference on Quality and Improvement for
information on business excellence, knowledge transfer, generational diversity, innovation and
application, teamwork, and the virtual universe.
While you have some spare time in between attending one of more than 75 sessions (including a
variety of sessions in Spanish), attending the ASQ Career Fair, and networking with fellow quality
professionals, you can enjoy some of Houston’s wonderful attractions. Take a tour of Space Center
Houston, see a Houston Astros baseball game, or visit one of the many shopping centers.
Come with an open mind, gain improvement methodologies that will lead your organization to
excellence, and have some fun too! Visit http://wcqi.asq.org to learn more or to register for the
conference. See you in Houston!
Early-bird rates end March 14, 2008.
Member $825 • Nonmember $925
Conflict
COMPL
In 50 Words Problem solving and
Or Less
• Problem solving in
large, complex systems
requires more than
logical thinking techniques
could have saved NASA’s
tools used to simply
quantify.
• Systems tools follow

Challenger
a proven scientific
approach and can help
reveal why a process
improvement might not
be working.
• Tools at our disposal
today might have
allowed decision
makers to prevent by H. William Dettmer
the disaster.
 PROBLEM SOLVING

and
EXITY
FOURTEEN YEARS BEFORE the space shuttle
Challenger exploded shortly after launch in 1986,
NASA unknowingly set in motion a series of events
that culminated in the tragic disaster that stunned the
proud space agency and rocked a nation.
Following the accident, the Rogers Commission
conducted an exhaustive analysis of the accident and
revealed an embarrassing chain of cause and effect
that led to the disaster, which took the lives of the
seven crew members on board.1

23
January 2008 • QP 23
 It’s public knowledge that ill-fitting O-rings in
the space shuttle solid rocket boosters (SRB), com-
bined with low air temperatures before the sched-
uled launch, precipitated the actual explosion. But the
reality is not that simple. Tragically, there were several
opportunities to break this deadly chain of events dur-
ing the 14 years leading up to the event.
But what went wrong? What kept this ultimately di-
sastrous process in motion? At the time, there was no
shortage of quality assurance tools and best practices
being used, but the chain that caused the Challenger
disaster was completely impervious to virtually all
known quality tools available at the time.
What advancements in quality thinking have we
seen since then? How can we apply this thinking to
other complex systems and processes? What can we
learn from this tragedy?
System vs. process
What happened in the chain that led to the Chal-
lenger disaster is the direct result of an obvious but
often overlooked fact: Tools designed for process
improvement are not always scalable to the level of
complex systems.
In most cases, process tools are largely quantitative,
focused on functional sequences and are mostly iso-
lated from external influence. Moreover, variables in
processes are usually more easily identifiable and con-
trollable than they were in the Challenger example.
The same isn’t true of larger complex systems,
Logical thinking process / TABLE 1
Intermediate objectives (IO) map
Defines the expected standard of overall system performance. Establishes a goal, critical
success factors, and necessary conditions.
Current reality tree (CRT)
A detailed, logically verifiable cause and effect diagram depicting critical root causes of
deviations in system performance from the desired standard set forth in the IO map.
Evaporating cloud
A means of identifying hidden conflict that frustrates policy change. Provides the
opportunity to create breakthroughs for resolving the conflict.
Future reality tree (FRT)
A detailed, logically verifiable cause and effect diagram projecting the anticipated
outcomes of changes contemplated to eliminate the deviations identified in the CRT.
Prerequisite tree
A parallel sequential arrangement of the tasks required to execute the changes
identified in the FRT. Includes obstacles to be overcome. Provides the basis for
projectizing system change implementation.
24 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
which experience much more significant interaction
with the external environment. Not only can that inter-
action give rise to greater uncertainty and variability,
but decisions on the most important issues often can’t
be evaluated quantitatively.
Processes are repetitive. They’re governed by stan-
dard operating procedures and best practices, which
are designed to guide consistently and precisely re-
peatable situations.
Systems are governed by policies, which are intend-
ed to address a much wider variety of circumstances
and still remain effective, while admitting greater vari-
ability in conditions and circumstances. This is not a
situation in which quantitative data is expected to be
universally relevant.
Problem solving in complex systems
Problem solving in complex systems demands capabil-
ities that process improvement tools, by their nature,
can’t provide. The tools must be able to:
• Deal with a preponderance of qualitative, rather
than quantitative, data.
• Synthesize qualitative data into useful information.
• Consider complex interactions among system com-
ponents.
• Incorporate the effects of policies and management
decisions into an analysis of system causality.
In other words, process tools are considerably more
stratified and narrowly focused. System tools are, by
design, broader in scope and address a wider variety
of situations.
Process tools tell us how to trouble-
shoot and fix component system parts.
System tools tell us why a specific pro-
cess improvement action seems to have
no significant impact on overall system
performance and what to do about it.
Why are system tools so important?
Because any organization lives or dies
as a complex system, not as a collection
of isolated parts. The interactions among
the parts are as important—or perhaps
more so—as the polish on the individual
parts or processes themselves.
Contrary to traditional wisdom, the
system is not the sum of its parts, nor is
it more than the sum of its parts. It’s the
product of system component and envi-

LOOKING FOR ANSWERS: Members of the Rogers Commission investigating the space shuttle Challenger accident inspect the joint of an SRB.
During the weeks following the accident, the commission spent two days touring the Kennedy Space Center. The joint being observed is similar
to the suspected area in the SRB that caused the explosion.
ronment interactions, which might not be linear nor
additive.
Logical thinking process
If effective system management is ultimately the de-
terminant of success for organizations, what tools are
available to improve it? Perhaps the best tool I’ve en-
countered in 30 years of studying and teaching systems
management is the logical thinking process (TP).
The TP is a series of five trees originally conceived
by E.M. Goldratt to facilitate the successful application
of constraint theory.2 In the 15 years since it was intro-
duced, the TP has evolved beyond constraint theory
alone into a powerful systems thinking and manage-
ment tool.
The five logic trees and their functions are described
in Table 1.
PROBLEM SOLVING
These trees are designed to take a whole-to-parts
approach to policy analysis and problem solving. They
begin with a possibly ill-defined problem, articulate the
specific gaps between what should be happening and
what is happening in the system, facilitate develop-
ment of a strategy to eliminate the gaps and lay out the
change implementation plan.
One aspect of complex system change is resolving
conflict that tends to frustrate robust system improve-
ment.
Before it’s appropriate to start designing solutions
for system problems, such problems must be accurate-
ly and completely identified. The second step in the
TP, the current reality tree (CRT), is the system prob-
lem identification tool. It’s designed to focus on the
few factors—critical root causes—that produce the
system’s biggest problems.3
January 2008 • QP 25
 SRB conflict
While the critical root cause of the Challenger accident
could be attributed to acquisition policies that award-
ed the booster contract to the lowest bidder in 1972,
understanding that decision, though potentially useful
for future acquisition programs, was a moot point.
It did nothing to help engineers deal with the first
manifestation of a problem in 1976. A major dilemma
revealed itself during engineering development of the
program. Ironically, it presented a then-unrecognized
opportunity to create a win-win resolution that would
have prevented the Challenger accident and saved
seven lives.
Morton Thiokol Corp. (MTC) had been awarded the
space shuttle SRB contract based largely on the fact
that it was the lowest bidder for the work by a signifi-
cant margin. MTC felt confident in its low bid because
it envisioned the space shuttle SRB as simply a scaled
up version of its highly reliable Titan IIIB SRB.
What MTC did not anticipate were the problems as-
sociated with fabricating a substantially larger booster
of the same basic configuration.
The Titan IIIB SRBs were narrower in diameter than
the shuttle boosters. They were assembled, or stacked,
vertically in segments to ensure the integrity of the
perfectly round cross section of the cylindrical booster
segments. The joining of the booster segments was
effected with a clevis-and-tang design, secured with
neoprene O-rings to produce a seal
between segments that could with-
Articulate the stand the pressures of combustion
conflict / FIGURE 1 during launch.
The space shuttle boosters were
Prerequisite 1
twice the diameter of the Titan IIIB
Redesign the
boosters and nearly twice the height,
space shuttle
solid rocket yet the booster skin was nearly the
booster (SRB) same thickness. Because of the height
of the assembled boosters, the space
shuttle SRBs could not be assembled
vertically like Titan IIIB boosters.
So MTC decided to assemble the
space shuttle SRBs horizontally. The
completed booster, filled with propel-
Don’t redesign
lant, would then be shipped by rail
the space
shuttle SRB from MTC’s facility in Utah to Cape
ranaveral, FL, for assembly with the
Prerequisite 2 space shuttle main tank and orbiter
vehicle.
26 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
Determine the
requirements / FIGURE 2
Requirement 1 Prerequisite 1
Redesign the
Ensure
space shuttle
functionality
solid rocket
and safety
booster (SRB)
Adhere Don’t redesign
to NASA the space
budget shuttle SRB
Requirement 2 Prerequisite 2
In 1976, MTC encountered an unanticipated prob-
lem. The larger diameter of the space shuttle SRB,
coupled with the weight of each of the four casing seg-
ments, caused distortion of the intended round shape
when the booster segments were laid horizontally.
Because the clevis ends were slightly more rigid
than the tang ends, they didn’t distend as much. The
tolerance between the clevis and tang was very tight.
The net result was that the tang of one segment would
not fit into the clevis of its mated segment.
Critical dilemma
Of course, what happened 10 years later wasn’t appar-
ent to the MTC engineers in 1976. All they knew was
that they found themselves pulled in two different
directions at the same time: Redesign the assembly
equipment so that the boosters could be assembled
vertically (like the Titan IIIB), or trade off design speci-
fications to make the assembly work horizontally.
The business decision trumped the engineering rec-
ommendation. Rather than invest the money to build
the huge assembly tower required to assemble the
120-foot SRBs—which, besides incurring substantial
cost, would cause unacceptable delays to the project—
MTC and NASA program managers opted to trade off
the design.
MTC engineers increased the space between the in-
ner and outer parts of the clevis to accommodate the
 PROBLEM SOLVING

slightly out of round distortion of the tang

and to allow the segments to fit together.
Formulate the common objective / FIGURE 3

But, as newsman Eric Sevareid once ob- Requirement 1 Prerequisite 1

served, “The chief cause of problems is Redesign the
Ensure
solutions.”4 space shuttle
functionality
MTC discovered the problem this solu- solid rocket
and safety
booster (SRB)
tion created when it conducted hydrostatic Objective
tests to simulate launch pressures inside
A cost
the booster casing. MTC test engineers effective space
pumped water into a sealed booster and transportation
increased the hydraulic pressure. At a system (STS)

pressure considerably less than projected

launch conditions would produce, the mat- Adhere Don’t redesign
ed segments leaked like a sieve. to NASA the space
budget shuttle SRB
MTC’s solution, approved by NASA, was
to specify a larger O-ring to seal the offend- Requirement 2 Prerequisite 2
ing segments. In addition, 180 shims had to
be wedged into the clevis around the cir-
cumference of the lower booster segment
to ensure an adequate seal after the clevis
gap had been enlarged. A sealing paste of
potassium chromate was used to protect
Develop underlying assumptions / FIGURE 4

the O-rings from burning during rocket Assumptions:

6. SRB redesign is the only way to ensure
motor operation, and this appeared to do safety and functionality.
the trick. 7. Redesign requires vertical assembly or
complete booster redesign.
Unfortunately, it was later determined 8. Maximum safety requires the SRB design
that low ambient temperature stiffened to function as intended.
the O-rings, making them inflexible during
Assumptions: Requirement 1 Prerequisite 1
the vibrations of launch and compromising 1. An effective STS is one
that functions as intended. Redesign the
their sealing ability. A succession of events Ensure
2. Effectiveness implies space shuttle
and management decisions that relaxed functionality
acceptable safety risk. solid rocket
and safety
safety precautions—and did nothing to im- booster (SRB)
Objective
prove the functional safety of the system—
eventually led to the Challenger accident. A cost Assumptions:
effective space 12. We can’t redesign
transportation and not redesign
Applying an evaporating cloud system (STS) at the same time.

The logical thinking process did not ex-

Assumptions:
ist when MTC experienced its SRB design 3. Costs must be reasonable Adhere Don’t redesign
dilemma. In fact, the Challenger accident (politically acceptable). to NASA the space
4. The NASA budget was
itself predated the creation of the thinking budget shuttle SRB
approved by Congress.
process by more than five years. But it’s 5. Congress will likely be
intolerant of excessive Requirement 2 Prerequisite 2
interesting to consider how history might cost overruns.
have changed had the MTC personnel been Assumptions:
9. Retaining existing design keeps the project
able to apply an evaporating cloud to their = Invalid assumption within budget.
engineering dilemma. With the luxury of 10. Retaining horizontal assembly keeps the
project within budget.
hindsight, we can do that now.5 11. Safety and functionality are not adversely
An evaporating cloud is the means of impacted by relaxing tolerances.

identifying hidden conflict that frustrates

January 2008 • QP 27

An evaporating cloud is the means
of identifying hidden conflict that
frustrates policy change.
policy change. It provides the opportunity to create
breakthroughs for resolving conflict. The construction
of an evaporating cloud begins with the articulation of
the two conflicting prerequisites.
In the case of the space shuttle SRB design, the two
prerequisites would be to completely redesign the SRB
versus not to redesign the SRB, as shown in Figure 1 (p.
26). Remember that MTC management foreclosed the
option of assembling the booster vertically.
Once the opposing sides are stated, the requirements
each side are supposed to satisfy are determined. In the
SRB situation, shown in Figure 2 (p. 26), one require-
ment was to ensure functionality and safety. The other
was to adhere to the NASA budget. Notice that there is
no inherent conflict between these two requirements.
After the requirements are established, the common
objective that both requirements support must be for-
mulated. For the SRB, the common objective is a cost ef-
fective space transportation system, which also implies
Create injections / FIGURE 5
that it is safe to use. Figure 3 (p. 27)
includes this objective. The result is
a completed evaporating cloud.
Exposing underlying
assumptions
After the evaporating cloud is
constructed, the next step is to de-
velop the assumptions underlying
each arrow in the cloud. Figure 4 (p. 27) shows some
assumptions for this cloud. There undoubtedly were
more assumptions than we’ve shown here.
At first glance, most of these assumptions appear to
be valid. Only one assumption on each side seems to be
invalid. But in the space shuttle case, politics tipped the
scales in favor of not redesigning the system.
However, whether one side is weaker won’t be a fac-
tor when constructing the evaporating cloud. In fact,
it’s possible to find no obvious invalid assumptions. Yet
we can still evaporate the conflict by rendering one or
more of the assumptions irrelevant. That’s what we’ll
do in this case.
Creating injections
This particular conflict is clearly an engineering chal-
lenge as much as it is a political or financial one. It boils
down to how to solve a technical problem within finan-
cial constraints. The solution in Figure 5 represents the
resolution to this challenge. The solution to an evapo-
rating cloud is called an injection—it’s something new
that must be injected into the situation to resolve the

Requirement 1 Prerequisite 1 conflict.

Sometimes, when you’re not sure how to do some-

X
Redesign the
Ensure thing, you can write the injection as an outcome condi-
space shuttle
functionality
solid rocket tion you want to achieve. The injection in Figure 5 is
and safety
booster (SRB) just such a statement: Maintain the circular integrity of
Objective
the two booster segments in a horizontal orientation
A cost Create injection by while they’re being mated.
effective space maintaining circular integrity
transportation of booster segments in a
Fortunately, there are a number of ways to generate
system (STS) horizontal orientation creative ideas for solutions. One that particularly lends
itself to the engineering environment is TRIZ (Russian

Adhere Don’t redesign

acronym for the theory of inventive problem solving).
to NASA the space One of the principles of TRIZ is to start by defining the
budget shuttle SRB ideal final result. Our injection is such a statement.
As an exercise at a 1999 constraints management
Requirement 2 Prerequisite 2
conference, TRIZ was demonstrated as an idea genera-
tor to resolve the space shuttle SRB conflict.6

28 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 PROBLEM SOLVING

Components of TRIZ include a set of 40 principles

of problem solving and a contradiction matrix.7 The
Engineered solution / FIGURE 6

contradiction matrix suggests a number of different

possible principles to apply, depending on what you’re
trying to achieve.
Not all principles suggested will apply to every
situation, but they represent factors to consider first. Curved flanges
Two principles that seemed to help preserve shape Cradle to hold fold over SRB
SRB segment segment
and ease of manufacture when trying to hold cross
sectional area constant are:
Principle 24: Use a mediator (an intermediary ob-
ject to transfer or carry out action) that can be tempo- Rollers on
aligned rails
rarily connected and easily removed.
Principle 34: After it has completed its function,
remove an element of the object.
The creative result of these principles was the jig
arrangement depicted in Figure 6. It’s one of several Tang Clevis
solutions proposed by participants in an exercise at
the conference, and it’s a powerful demonstration of
the potential to integrate other tools with the thinking
process.

What might have been

Unfortunately, TRIZ was not known in the United
States in 1976, and the evaporating cloud as a conflict
resolution tool didn’t exist. Ultimately, MTC and NASA
jointly decided to trade off clevis-tang tolerances in
the interest of making the booster assemblies fit into
the existing design. They accepted the degradation
that came with it and applied Band-Aid solutions (bigger
O-rings, shims and zinc chromate), and the rest, as they
say, is history.
This article is just a taste of the potential of the logical
thinking process. The process is particularly effective in
complex system policy problems that don’t lend them-
selves to easy quantification. The process follows a prov-
en scientific method approach for identifying and solving
poorly defined system ills, and it functions in a way that
process oriented tools can’t hope to achieve.
As with any other worthwhile tool, the thinking pro-
cess requires time and effort to do it well. But the pay-
back can be extraordinary.
FIND SOLUTIONS
Additional articles on problem solving can be found at www.asq.org/
• Jigs enclose booster segments to retain round shape.
• Rollers on rails facilitate mating of segments.
This article is adapted from the author’s book, The Logical Thinking Process (ASQ
Quality Press, 2007).
REFERENCES AND NOTES:
1. H. William Dettmer, Breaking the Constraints to World-Class Performance, ASQ
Quality Press, 1998.
2. Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Theory of Constraints, North River Press, 1990.
3. For more information on CRT and the effectiveness of a quality policy analysis
tool, visit http://goalsys.com/books/papers.htm.
4. Thomas L. Martin, Malice in Blunderland, McGraw-Hill, 1973. Eric Sevareid’s
statement during a CBS News broadcast on Dec. 29, 1970, has become known
as Eric Sevareid’s Law.
5. Ellen Domb and H. William Dettmer, “Breakthrough Innovation in Conflict
Resolution: Marrying TRIZ and the TOC Thinking Process,” APICS Constraints
Management Special Interest Group Symposium, Alexandria, VA, 1999.
6. Ibid.
7. “Contradiction Matrix and the 40 Principles for Innovative Problem Solving,”
The TRIZ Journal, www.triz-journal.com/archives/contradiction_matrix/.
H. WILLIAM DETTMER is a senior
partner at Goal Systems International
in Port Angeles, WA. He has a master’s
degree in systems management from
the University of Southern California.

learn-about-quality/problem-solving/overview/read-more.html.

January 2008 • QP 29
 A
Less

1 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 LEAN SIX SIGMA

Costly
BILLING by Lakshmi U.
Tatikonda

PROCESS
Using lean Six Sigma to reduce errors

In 50 Words DO YOUR CUSTOMERS complain about billing

Or Less errors? If so, you are not alone. Companies of all sizes experience
• The cost of billing
errors, which often billing errors.
isn’t measured by
traditional accounting
In the early 1990s, customers of communications giant
systems, can be Motorola told then-CEO Bob Galvin, “We would do 10%, 20%,
significant.
• A 5% improvement in 40% (one customer said 300%) more business with you if you
customer retention can
add between 25% and
would quit screwing up our accounting people who have to
85% to the bottom line. take three weeks to reconcile a payment to you … Why don’t
• Applying lean Six Sigma
techniques can identify you admit you made a mistake? It takes us a week to convince
root causes, streamline
the billing process and
you. Correct those things, and we will give you much more of
reduce errors. our business.”1

January 2008 • QP 31
 The cost of billing errors—customer frustration, lost about the same as cutting costs by 10%.3
sales, delayed cash collections, rebilling and bookkeep- John Goodman, vice chairman of Technical Assis-
ing—can be significant and goes unnoticed because it tance Research Programs (TARP) in Arlington, VA,
isn’t measured by traditional accounting systems. said customer complaints provide valuable quality as-
Based on a survey of a diverse group of U.S. busi- surance, as well as service and marketing data.4 How-
nesses, Boston Consulting Group concluded that ever, many companies struggle to find a way to cap-
95% to 99% of a business’s internal activities have ture, analyze and learn from that valuable data.
little or no relevance to its customers. Studies indi- That’s where the quality tenets of Six Sigma and
cate that a 5% improvement in customer retention efficiency of lean enter the picture. Though lean tech-
can add between 25% and 85% to the bottom line.2 A niques were originally developed for manufacturing
10% increase in acquisition costs adds less than 2% companies, the techniques can be applied to a variety
to overall customer value, whereas a 10% increase of fields, including healthcare, banking, insurance and
in customer retention adds up to 30% to customer academia. One area that seems to be lagging behind is
value. The impact of retaining 2% more customers is accounting.
After describing the concepts of lean and Six Sigma,
this article illustrates how companies can apply lean
Flowchart of billing process / FIGURE 1 Six Sigma techniques to identify root causes, stream-
line billing processes and reduce billing errors.
Mail
Telephone Salesperson
A hypothetical billing problem
Orders Hypothetical Company (HC) started as a small,
received family-owned company. For a long time, owners man-
aged most of the operations, including billing, and
Order customers were happy. Over time, the company grew
preparation
steadily and acquired plants in the United States and
many other countries.
Order
verification Most of its operations were departmentalized, and
the accounting systems varied among the many compa-
nies HC acquired. While HC successfully dealt with most
Order No of the problems caused by rapid growth, it remained un-
complete?
able to get a grip on billing errors. The customer service
Yes and billing departments were often flooded with com-
plaints about erroneous bills.
New Yes Set up customer The billing process at HC evolved over time, result-
customer account ing in a lack of consistency among billing personnel.
Customer order taking and billing procedures were
No
confusing, inadequate and obsolete. Not all billing
Order sent to
clerks had the same level of knowledge and training.
accounting and shipping
A lack of documentation added to the confusion and
Accounting Shipping aggravated the situation. Billing personnel followed
prepares invoice checks stock the policies and procedures they thought were rea-
sonable and did things the way they felt was right.
To get a handle on its billing problem, HC appointed
No Items Yes a Six Sigma team comprised of employees with vari-
in stock
ous interdisciplinary backgrounds and expertise. The
Six Sigma team discussed the problem, researched Six
Back order Shipment Sigma and lean tools and techniques, learned from other
placed made
companies and consulted with experts in the field.

32 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 LEAN SIX SIGMA

Data collection and analysis

The Six Sigma team took an in-depth look at direct and
Histogram of error frequency / FIGURE 2

indirect costs of billing errors. This was an eye-opener

to many. Some costs identified included:
• Borrowing due to cash flow problems. 8

Frequency of error occurrence

• Resolving billing errors.
• Rebilling.
• Bookkeeping.
• Customer defections and lost sales.
• Delay in cash collection as irate customers held
payments until discrepancies were resolved.
• Interest lost due to late collection.
• Arguments among sales, shipping and billing de-
partments, leading to a loss of morale.
The first thing the team did was study the billing
process and prepare a flow chart (see Figure 1). The
team then reviewed how billing errors were resolved.
Most scenarios followed a similar path:
A customer calls to inquire about a bill and listens
to a pre-recorded message with menu options. The cus-
tomer listens to several options that don’t describe their
particular problem and gets frustrated when the system
only deals with select inquiries. After several minutes,
the customer finally gets to speak to a customer ser-
vice representative, but only after being put on hold or
bounced from one representative to another, forcing the
customer to repeat the problem several times. Finally,
the customer is assured the problem will be corrected,
only to have the next month bring the same bill, the
same error, the same complaint, the same aggravation
and, in the end, the loss of an annoyed customer.
A further study revealed many different types of bill-
ing errors:
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Percentage of errors in samples
• Bills with wrong prices and charges.
• Bills sent to the wrong customer.
• Bills sent to the wrong address.
• Double billing and late billing.
• Billing for unordered goods.
• Billing for returned goods.
• Billing before the goods were shipped.
Like many companies, HC did not have an accurate
record of how many erroneous bills were prepared and
the frequency of each type of error. That meant the Six
Sigma team had to collect, organize and analyze data.5
The Six Sigma team took 25 random samples of
200 bills and found the percentage of errors varied
from sample to sample and ranged from 10% to 40%
(see Table 2). The team then created a histogram to
present the data graphically (see Figure 2).

Tenets of lean / TABLE 1 Frequency of billing

Defining Value is defined by the customer and is the result of
errors / TABLE 2
value functions and features of products and services.
Sample size = 25
Identifying Value stream is the chain of value-creating activities
value and processes. Value stream mapping is the physical Percentage of Frequency of
streams representation of processes that transform into outputs. errors in sample occurrence

Making Flow is the rate at which things move in the value stream. < 10% 0
value flow Obstacles such as clutter, blockages, bottlenecks, defects, 11 – 15% 3
errors and organizational policies and procedures slow or 16 – 20% 4
stop the flow. 21 – 25% 7
Pull Pull systems refer to work performed only when needed by 26 – 30% 6
systems the customer or the next operation downstream. 31 – 35% 3
Pursuit of Pursuit of perfection is the process of continuous 36 – 40% 2
perfection improvement. > 40% 0

January 2008 • QP 33
 The Six Sigma team’s next step was to identify which
subset of errors was more significant than others. A review
of a sample with 40 errors revealed five different types (see
Table 3). When this data was presented on a Pareto chart,
it was clear that three different errors—incorrect amount,
billing for unordered goods and double billing—appeared
in more than 80% of all billing errors (see Figure 3).
Root cause identification
The last piece of the puzzle was identifying root causes.
Using cause and effect diagrams, the Six Sigma team
brainstormed potential causes and explored them in
depth. It studied the procedures and data, observed
workflow and interviewed customers and employees.
The team concluded that two primary factors were re-
sponsible for most of the errors (see Figure 4, p. 36): lack
of communication (for example, failure to inform billing
of partial shipments), and lack of knowledge and train-
ing (an inability to answer customer questions).
Streamlining the billing process
To gain a better understanding of the sources of com-
munication errors, the team members decided to walk
through the billing activities. Customer orders arrived
via mail, fax and phone. At each step, they were batched
and queued for processing. The main steps included: or-
der taking (folders made for each customer), order prep-
aration (current and new customers sorted, information
added), order pricing, shipping and billing. Table 4 (p. 36)
provides a detailed description of the activities.
The team was surprised by how many departments
and steps were involved in preparing an invoice. At every
step, the team observed employees burdened by piles of
papers waiting to be prepared and moved to the next step.
In many cases, documents moved from person to person,
and the same data was entered multiple times.
The team then prepared a value stream map for the cur-
rent state of the billing process (see Figure 5, pp. 38-39) to
illustrate the movement of inventory, documents and in-
formation, along with the location and quantities of inven-
tories, cycle times and value adding and nonvalue adding
times.6 Cycle times and inventory quantities were obtained
through observation and personal interviews. Inventory
days were calculated by dividing the inventory quantity
with the average number of customer orders per day. On
average, HC received 100 orders via mail and another 100
orders via fax and phone. The cycle time for the billing pro-
cess varied from 19.5 days for a current customer to 29.5
days for a new customer. The cycle efficiency varied from
0.5% to 0.54%.
A careful study of the value stream map indicated some
specific causes for billing errors:
• Sending items not ordered.
• Sending invoices before shipments.
• Not updating customer addresses.
• Human errors in data entry.
• No timely communication of returned items.
• Inconsistencies among order takers.
• Too much waiting.
• Too many steps and handoffs.

Tally sheet for billing errors / TABLE 3 Pareto chart for billing
errors / FIGURE 3
Date: 7/20/2006 Bill numbers: 57001-57200
100 100
Bill preparer: John Doe 92.5
80 82.5
Type of error Tally Number Percentage
70
Percentages

Incorrect amount 1111 1111 11 12 30% 60

Wrong customer 111 3 6% 40 40

Double billing 1111 4 10%
20 16
Billing for unordered goods 1111 1111 1111 1 16 40% 12
5 4 3
Late billing 1111 5 14% 0
s n t g g r
or oo
d
ou illi n illi n me
Total 40 100% i n g f ed g t am t eb l eb u sto
l r ec a b c
Bil orde orr
L
Do
u
on
g
Error rate = 40/200 = 20% un Inc Wr
Type of error
Percentage of error
Cumulative percentage of error

34 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 LEAN SIX SIGMA

The team developed a value stream map reflecting the
future state (see Figure 6, p. 36) and performed a series
of kaizen blitzes to streamline the billing process. In the
future state, the billing process had three steps:
1. Order taking, order preparation, new customer
setup and order pricing were combined into order
processing.
2. Checking credit and calculating sales tax and total
amounts were combined into billing.
3. Shipping.
By reducing the billing process to three steps, the
cycle time was reduced to less than a day, and cycle ef-
ficiency increased to 10.4%.
To achieve the future (expected) state, the Six Sigma
team:
• Identified the necessary activities and the order in
which they must be performed.
• Developed and documented policies and procedures
to ensure all employees performed the activities in the
correct order.

BILLING DISCONNECT
While completing this article, one of the major multinational
telecommunications companies gave me a great real life field
story. I was a customer of this company for more than 40 years
and used its services for all phone calls. Sometime last February
when I called India, I got the message, “International calls can’t be
made from this number.” I thought this was a technical problem
and would be corrected. The next day, I got the same message.
I called the company’s customer service, but the represen-
tative had no clue how to address the issue and connected me
to another clueless person. After 40 frustrating minutes, I hung
up. I called again the next day and encountered more clueless
people. Finally, the sixth person I spoke to told me the com-
pany had cut my service because my bill was too large. I told
them there had to be an error, but the representative could not
provide any details about my bill, which I had not yet received.
I decided to wait until the bill came to address the issue and
until then used phone cards for international calls.
When the bill came, I was startled to see I was charged $7
per minute for calls to India. For many years, I had an interna-
tional calling plan with a $1 flat fee per month, plus 30 cents
per minute. When asked, I was told that was the old version of
the company. This was the new version, and that is why I was
charged $7 per minute.
No one could explain what this new and old system was
about, why I was not told about it earlier, and why I should pay
$7 per minute. After many hours of arguing, the customer service
representative agreed to recalculate the bill and told me the
amount I owed. I promptly sent a check for that amount with a
note stating the error and what customer service told me to pay. I
thought this was the end. I was wrong.
The next month, I received a much larger bill with a state-
ment that the amount was overdue. This fiasco continued for
several months. I also received a letter from the company’s
accounts receivable (AR) department stating that unless I paid
the overdue amount, my phone services would be cut off and
my account given to a collection agency. I explained what hap-
pened to the AR representative, but she said she had no com-
munication with the billing, cash receipts or customer service
departments and insisted I pay the total billed amount or face
having my service cut. Shortly after that, the company cut my
long distance service.
Unable to resolve the issue with the company’s personnel, I
sought the help of the Better Business Bureau (BBB). BBB took
my complaint, agreed with my statement and contacted the
company. A short time later, the company called me, apolo-
gized for the error and overcharges, credited the overcharges
to my account and refunded the excess I paid.
By this time, annoyed with its arrogance and lack of respect
for customers, I said goodbye to that company and chose
another carrier as my phone service provider. Of course, it
didn’t take long for me to receive several letters asking me to
reconsider my decision, as well as discount coupons to rejoin.
The bottom line: The company demonstrated that its billing
process was flawed and there was no communication between
billing, cash receipts, customer service and accounts receiv-
able. It overcharged, harassed and bullied me (I heard similar
stories about the same company from many other people),
wasted hours of my time and took four months to accept it
made a mistake, only after the intervention of the BBB. In the
end, the company lost a long-term, loyal customer. — L.T.

January 2008 • QP 35
 Cause and effect diagram
Data input
Wrong information Wrong file mounting
from order processing
Order entry unclear
Infrequent price update
Wrong data entry
Obsolete database
Inadequate communication
Unclear instructions
between sales, order processing
and billing departments
Outdated procedures
No written procedures
Procedures
Data and activities included in the billing process
Customer
• Orders via mail, fax, phone and e-mail.
• Average daily orders: 200/day.
Central mailroom
• Receive outside mail.
• Sort according to departments.
• Put in boxes.
• Deliver to departments.
• Stamp postage and send outgoing mail.
Order taking
• Receive orders from customers
and central mailroom.
• Open customer mail orders.
• Record customer phone
orders on paper.
• Sort all orders by customer
name and stamp date.
• Prepare folders with customer
order information.
• Move batch of customer orders to
order preparation once a day.
Credit check
• Check customer credit once a week.
• Add credit status to folders.
• Sort customers according to acceptable
and not acceptable credit.
• Batch and move the sorted
folders to billing.
36 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
/ FIGURE 4
Billing clerks
Lack of training Misunderstanding
of instructions
Lack of supervision
Failure to follow Carelessness
corporate billing
procedures
Lack of bill authorization
Lack of order taking verification
Lack of feedback
Lack of controls
Controls
Order preparation
• Receive folders with customer
order information.
• Sort folders according to new
and current customers.
• Send new customer folders
to data processing.
• Receive new customer folders
from data processing.
• Move customer order folders
to order verification.
• Receive folders from order verification.
• Make two copies of
customer order folders.
• Send one copy of the order to
shipping and one copy to billing.
Data processing
• Receive new customer folders
from order taking.
• Batch the folders, assign a customer
number and create customer record.
• Add new customer number and other
information to customer folders.
• Batch customer folders to order
preparation once a day.
Order verification
• Receive customer order folders
from order preparation.
• Check stock availability.
• Make price estimates.
• Add price estimates to
customer order folder.
• Move the folders to order
preparation once a day.
Erroneous
billings
Lack of data
verification
/ TABLE 4
Billing
• Receive copy of customer order
folders from order preparation.
• Send new customer folders
to credit check.
• Receive customer folders from
credit check with credit status.
• Sort the customer folders according to
acceptable and not acceptable credit.
• Send the customer folders with not
acceptable status back to order takers.
• Send the acceptable customer
folders to sales tax department.
• Receive customer folders from sales tax.
• Calculate the total amount
(purchases, taxes) to bill.
• Enter all the necessary data
into computer and print
invoices twice a month.
• Address envelopes, fold, insert invoices
and close. Move the envelopes to
central mailroom twice a day.
Shipping
• Receive customer order folders
from order preparation.
• Pick and pack the items in the order.
• Print and paste address
labels on the boxes.
• Ship the packages twice a day.
 LEAN SIX SIGMA

• Replaced the existing batch and queue system with
a flow system. Customer orders were processed one
at a time as they arrived. Individuals in each step
were trained to do all activities in that step.
• Automated the billing system and encouraged cus-
tomers to submit orders via the internet.
• Trained order processing employees to take data
correctly, verify data for accuracy and complete-
ness, and look for special terms.
• Created a system in which data was only entered
once and transmitted electronically, with passwords
to limit access.
• Developed standard formats with built-in internal
checks and flags to alert users about incomplete data,
incorrect part numbers and faulty descriptions.
• Trained shipping personnel to communicate with
the billing department in a timely manner regarding
partial shipments and returned goods.
• Sent invoices only after receiving confirmation from
shipping personnel that orders were sent.
• Printed the name and phone number of the customer’s
contact person, due dates and discounts on invoices to
avoid runaround experienced by customers. Highlight-
ing payment due dates and available discounts mini-
mized customer calls and shrunk collection intervals.
• Simplified the chaotic pricing structure and comput-
erized it. Any deviations from the posted prices were
immediately communicated to the necessary parties.
• Suggested blanket agreements be negotiated and in-
voices sent on a monthly basis via the internet when
possible. The free time that resulted would be used
for training, to pursue value adding activities and to
perform further kaizens.
Final actions
The Six Sigma team believed in the saying “what gets
measured gets improved,” and developed a set of rel-
evant performance measurements to track the efficien-
cy and effectiveness of the billing process. The metrics
selected were:
• Total number of billing documents processed divided
by the number processed per day.
• Lead time to process customer order.
• Cycle time to prepare a customer bill.
• Average amount in accounts receivable divided by
average number of sales.
• Percentage of accounts received past due.
• Sum of the dollar amount in accounts receivable,
multiplied by the number of days since the sale, di-
vided by the total number of days.
• Percentage of erroneous bills.
• Average time to correct an erroneous bill.
• Number of billing complaints.
• Average time to resolve billing complaints.
The team was fully aware of the powerful nature
of working in cells and the success of just-in-time

LEAN SIX SIGMA
Lean uses simple tools and draws on employee creativity to
add customer value. The five tenets of lean are defining value,
identifying value streams, making value flow, pull systems and
pursuit of perfection.1
Sigma is a statistical term that represents deviation (de-
fects in the process) from the mean. A defect is a noncon-
formance to specification, such as a part that does not fit
or, in this case, an incorrect customer bill. A process with
one sigma quality has a 34% chance of producing a defect,
whereas Six Sigma reduces that number to 3.4 defects per 1
million opportunities.
Successes of Six Sigma are well documented. Motorola used
it to dramatically improve quality and earned the highly coveted
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Black Belts save com-
panies about $250,000 per project.2 General Electric (GE), one of
the pioneers of Six Sigma, estimated the benefits of its efforts
during the first five years of implementation at $10 billion.3
In 1999, Xerox hired GE Capital to handle its billing process.
GE showed Xerox lean Six Sigma, and Xerox made a serious
commitment to the method in 2002, training its top executives,
including CEO Anne M. Mulcahy, who led the effort. All told,
Xerox invested $14 million in the method, earned a $6 million
return in 2003 and expected even bigger payoffs in the years to
come. With the lessons it learned, Xerox helped customers like
Bank of America, which consolidated its document centers and
saved $800,000.4
REFERENCES
1. James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones, Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth
in Your Corporation, Free Press, 1966.
2. Søren Bisgaard and Johannes Freiesleben, “Six Sigma and the Bottom Line,” Quality
Progress, September 2004, pp. 57–62.
3. Six Sigma Institute, “Six Sigma Overview and History in Motorola,” www.sixsigmainsti-
tute.com/sixsigma/index_6sigma.shtml.
4. Faith Arner and Adam Aston, “How Xerox Got Up To Speed,” Quality Manufacturing,
May 3, 2004.

January 2008 • QP 37
 HC value stream map: current state / FIGURE 5

Central Invoices
Mail Orders Customer
mail room
Fax Orders
Phone Orders

Customer
orders Data 2 X Daily
processing
I4
Order CT: 10 min.
I3 Q: 95% 800
Preparation Order
Order Sort: 200 pricing
taking CT: 2 min. I5 I6 Shipping
CT: 15 min. I8
I1 I2 Q: 95% 500 Q: 90% 400
CT: 2 min. CT: 20 min.
200
400 Q: 90% 600 Prep: Q: 98%
I7
CT: 10 min.
Q: 90% 600

2 days 3 days 1 day 4 days 2 – 5 days 2 days 3 days 1 day

2 min. 12 min. 10 min. 15 min. 20 min.

Symbols
Sort
XYZ I
Corporation 300 pieces/1 Day
Process Box Customer Inventory Shipment

Invoices
PUSH Finished goods Material Electronic
Information
to customer info. flow info. flow

HC value stream map:

future state / FIGURE 6 manufacturing methods. For the next level of
improvement, the team suggested that HC con-
solidate all activities into one cell manned by a
Invoices team of personnel from sales (covering order
Central
mail room Customer taking, order preparation, order pricing and
Mail orders
data processing), accounting (covering credit
Fax orders
check, sales tax and billing) and shipping.
Phone and The cells would be located in the shipping
internet orders 3 X Daily area, and cell personnel would take full responsi-
bility for all activities from order taking through
Customer
orders
invoicing. Throughout the improvement project,
the team communicated with HC management
Shipping I2
Order CT: 20 min. and received management’s support.
75 Billing
processing Q: 100% With a resolution in place, HC figured out
I3
I1 CT: 15 min.
CT: 20 min. Q: 100% 75
50
what Motorola learned more than a decade ago:
Q: 100%
sometimes a lean approach is needed when the
customer’s patience with the billing process is
0.25 day 0.375 day 0.375 day
20 min. 20 min. 15 min. wearing thin.

38 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 LEAN SIX SIGMA

Inventory Legend
1. Mail and fax orders.
2. Customer orders in folders.
3. New customer order folders.
4. Folders with new customer record
information.
5. Customer order folders.
6. Customer order folders with
verification and pricing.
7. Customer order folders with shipping
information.
8. Boxes waiting to be shipped.
9. Customer order folders waiting for
invoicing.
Credit
check
10. Sorted new customer folders waiting
Billing I10 I11 for credit check.
CT: 10 min.
Sort: 200 Q: 100% 800 11. Customer order folders with credit
CT: 2 min. Sales tax status.
I9 Q: 95% I12 I13 12. Customer folders waiting for sales tax
CT: 15 min.
600 Invoicing: 600 Q: 95% 600 to be added.
CT: 15 min. 13. Customer folders with sales tax to be
Q: 90% I14 added.
200 14. Invoices to be mailed.
3 days 1 day 4 days 3 days 3 days 1 day
17 min. 10 min. 5 min.
Invoicing
Current customer New customer
Process time 51 minutes 71 minutes
Non-value addiing time 19.5 days 29.5 days
Total cycle time 156.85 hours 236.18 hours
Cycle efficiency 0.54% 0.5%

REFERENCES
1. George Fisher and R.W. Galvin, “Motorola Quality Briefing: Stalking Six Sigma,”
video presentation, Motorola Inc., Nov. 23, 1992.
2. Frederick F. Reichheld, The Loyalty Effect, Harvard Business School Press, 1996.
3. Frederick F. Reichheld and E. Sassar, Jr., “Zero Defects Come to Services,”
Harvard Business Review, September 1990, pp. 105–111.
4. John Goodman and Steve Newman, “Understand Customer Behavior and
Complaints,” Quality Progress, January 2003, pp. 51–55.
5. James R. Evans and William M. Lindsay, The Management and Control of Qual-
ity, 5th edition, South-Western College Publications, 2002.
6. Mike Rother and John Shook, Learning to See, The Lean Enterprise Institute, 2003.

NOTES
In the section “Streamlining the billing process,” the following resources were
used: Steven M. Bragg, Billing and Collections: Best Practices, John Wiley &
Sons, 2005; Jean E. Cunningham and Orest J. Fiume with Emily Adams, Real LAKSHMI U. TATIKONDA is the director of CMA/CFM
Numbers: Management Accounting in a Lean Organization, Managing Times programs and manuscripts for the Winnebagoland
Press, 2003; Michael Hammer and James Champy, Reengineering Corporation: Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants and
A Manifesto for Business Revolution, Harper Collins Publishers, 1993; Brian professor of accounting at the University of Wisconsin-
Maskel and Bruce Baggeley, Practical Lean Accounting, Productivity Press, 2004; Oshkosh. She received her Ph. D. in mathematics from
Matthew May, “Lean Thinking for Knowledge Work,” Quality Progress, June 2005, the University of Texas-Austin and is certified as CMA,
pp. 33-40; Jerome M. Solomon, Who Is Counting: A Lean Accounting Business CPA, CIA, CFM, CPIM and CQM.
Novel, WCM Associates, 2003.

GO ONLINE
For more articles on lean Six Sigma or to comment on this feature, visit
www.qualityprogress.com, or e-mail your comments to editor@asq.org.

January 2008 • QP 39
 LEAN
SIX SIGMA’S
EVOLUT
Integrated method uses
different deployment models

In 50 Words
Or Less
• Six Sigma started as a way
to improve an operation’s
quality but has expanded to WHEN MOTOROLA ROLLED out its initial
become a way to increase
financial performance. Six Sigma system in 1987, there were no Green Belts (GBs),
• Many organizations have Black Belts (BBs), Master Black Belts (MBBs), Champions
integrated lean with Six
Sigma, but deployment or any of the infrastructure or focused training we have
models vary widely.
• A body of knowledge for come to associate with modern practices in Six Sigma.
different lean Six Sigma What Motorola did have was strong executive support, a
models is recommended.
training requirement of 40 hours per year per employee,

40 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 LEAN SIX SIGMA

ION
by
byDDouglas
ouglas P
P.. M
Mader
ader

its Six Steps to Six Sigma and, most notably, a large oppor-
tunity for improvement, which translated to an exceptional
return on investment.
What most people do not remember is that, in addition
to its Six Sigma initiative, Motorola had a secondary initia-
tive to reduce cycle time. But, the cycle time reduction ef-
fort did not use the lean tools or structure we know today.

January 2008 • QP 41
 During Motorola’s first five years of Six Sigma
deployment, there was no formal MAIC training, let
alone formal lean training. MAIC was the predecessor
to today’s define, measure, analyze, improve and con-
trol (DMAIC) strategy. However, in 1991, Motorola’s
Six Sigma Research Institute developed and delivered
Motorola’s very first BB and MBB training using the
MAIC model.
Six Sigma use expanded beyond the Motorola de-
ployment in the mid-1990s via the Six Sigma Academy.
Allied Signal and General Electric (GE) were two of
the first organizations to deploy Six Sigma with the pri-
mary intent of improving financial performance rather
than quality. Other large organizations followed, and
once they showed significant return on investment
with the improved Six Sigma model, the revised meth-
od gained widespread acclaim.1
Several Six Sigma Academy clients made significant
contributions to the Six Sigma method:
• Allied Signal was the first to implement the Cham-
pion infrastructure.
• GE added the define phase to the MAIC methodol-
ogy.
• GE Capital brought a strong focus to voice of the
customer (VOC) methods and integrated DMAIC
with the business process reengineering (BPR)
model advocated by Rummler-Brache2 and
Michael Hammer.3
Several divisions of GE as well as other Six Sigma
Academy clients, such as Seagate and Toshiba, intro-

Integrated BoKs / FIGURE 1

Six Sigma body of Lean BoK

knowledge (BOK) Visual management
Focus on hard savings practices
Measurement systems 5S method
analysis Time and motion studies
Process mapping Value added vs. nonvalue
Basic statistical concepts added analysis
Graphical methods Signaling devices (kanban)
Process capability Continuous improvement
analysis (kaizen)
Hypothesis testing Just-in-time principles
Statistical modeling tools Lean Standardized work methods
Design of experiments consultants Quality at the source
Empirical optimization Motorola and methods
Nonlinear optimization Six Sigma Setup reduction methods
Statistical tolerancing consultants Focused factory methods
Monte Carlo simulation Cellular production
Statistical process control Lean processes
Nonparametric statistical Six Order point production
methods control
Reliability methods Sigma Queuing analysis
Cycle time reduction

Project management BoK

Project charter
GE and Project schedule
Business process
Allied Signal Project evaluation and review
reengineering BOK GE Capital
As-is process map technique/critical path
Should-be process map Stakeholder analysis
Process management Communications plan
Change management Focus on economic value
Focus on job definition added
Focus on strategy
Project identification and
selection
Change management
Requirements definition
Pilot projects

42 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 LEAN SIX SIGMA

LSS+ flowchart / FIGURE 2

The integration
the bodies of knowledge
of

(BoKs) shown in Figure 1

has been accomplished us-
Determine ing several viable models
Value stream best fit LSSL to be explained later.
Select projects
analysis of tools to
problem
The U.S. educational
system is one of the rea-
TSS sons the Six Sigma and
lean tools have taken so
Right long to become integrated.
Define, measure, Yes
approach? Improve Control In most major universities
analyze
in the 1980s and 1990s, it
No No
was typical to have sepa-
rate departments for sta-
Right Yes
Define Measure Analyze approach? Improve Control tistics and industrial engi-
neering. The result was
that two generations of
consultants and practi-
duced customized programs intended to integrate Six tioners probably were trained on one method or the
Sigma tools and methods into new product develop- other, but not both.
ment, thus giving rise to several similar but distinct Today, we see much more integration of the meth-
design for Six Sigma (DFSS) approaches.4 ods as consultants and organizations have developed
Also in the mid-1980s, the Toyota Production Sys- expertise in both areas, and universities have adapted
tem (TPS) method was gaining popularity among tradi- to how industrial and service organizations allocate re-
tional manufacturing companies as they responded to sources to improvement.
Japanese competition.
Beginning in machining operations and expanding
the scope accordingly, Taiichi Ohno, Toyota’s chief
of production, led the development of TPS at Toyota Comparison of TSS and LSSL
throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Subsequently, Toyota timing / FIGURE 3
deployed TPS to its supply base during the 1960s and
Typical 16-week Six Sigma DMAIC timing
1970s.
In the United States, the spread of TPS began in
Define Measure Analyze Improve Control
1984 with the creation of the Toyota-General Motors
Two Three Three Four Four
joint venture called New United Motor Manufacturing
weeks weeks weeks weeks weeks
Inc. in California. These tools and methods were then
adopted by many U.S. and international companies.5 Typical six-week kaizen timing
The lean tools tended to require less quantitative Define, measure
analysis than Six Sigma tools, and they were mainly ap- and analyze Improve Control
(D,M, and A)
plicable to improvement in operations pertaining to con-
straints in the flow of physical product or work units. Two One Three
weeks week weeks
Six Sigma and lean systems tended to be viewed
as separate and distinct improvement methods in the
D,M, and A Improve Control
mid- to late 1990s. Today, many organizations have be-
gun to integrate Six Sigma and lean along with project D,M, and A Improve Control
management and business process reengineering (see
D,M, and A Improve Control
Figure 1).

January 2008 • QP 43
 Current practices
There are currently four major Six Sigma and lean
deployment models:
1. Traditional Six Sigma (TSS).
2. Lean Six Sigma plus (LSS+).
3. Lean Six Sigma light (LSSL).
4. Traditional lean (TL).
TSS: The TSS model was introduced to Motorola by
its Six Sigma Research Institute in 1991, but it was not
widely practiced at Motorola until 1999.
The TSS model was implemented at Allied Signal,
GE and other large organizations through the efforts of
various consulting firms in the mid-1990s.
Through various refinements by many organizations
and consultants, the TSS model has come to be a very
effective problem solving strategy for existing process-
es and products. It effectively integrates the Six Sigma,
BPR and project management BOKs. It has also been
effectively tailored to financial services, healthcare and
other specialized industries and is no longer limited to
typical brick and mortar manufacturing companies.
BB projects run under the TSS model are typically
scoped to last four months under the assumption that
the BB is allocated to the TSS improvement full time.

Recommended lean Six Sigma skill sets / TABLE 1

Service Industrial
Phase Lean Six Sigma core skills TSS LSS+ LSSL TL
BB GB BB GB
The LSS context • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Strategic planning and critical to quality drilldown • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Basic lean Six Sigma metrics • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Hidden factory • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Define

Financial analysis for lean Six Sigma projects • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫

Identifying and selecting lean Six Sigma projects • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Planning lean Six Sigma projects • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Executing lean Six Sigma project and the DMAIC
• ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
method
Change management for LSS practitioners • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Voice of the customer methods • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Standard process mapping • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Value stream mapping • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Qualitative tools for evaluating process • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Measure

Qualitative tools for selecting process variables • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫

Introduction to Minitab (or other statistical software) • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Basic probability and statistics models • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Discrete probability models • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Continuous probability models • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Graphical analysis • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Survey design • ♦ • ♦ ⻫
Sampling distributions and confidence intervals • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Hypothesis testing • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Process capability analysis • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Analysis of variance • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Two variable probability models • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Simple linear regression • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Multiple linear regression • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Sequential regression and best subsets • • ⻫ ⻫
Analyze

Categorical data analysis • • ⻫ ⻫

Overview of lean systems • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Visual management and 5S • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Standard operations • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
One-piece flow • • ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Kanban systems • • ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Mixed level production • ⻫
Inventory system basics ⻫
Setup time reduction methods ⻫
Error proofing (poka-yoke) • • ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫

44 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 LEAN SIX SIGMA

BBs can run more than one project at a time with suffi-
cient support resources. GBs typically pursue projects
with a smaller scope and are not allocated full time to
TSS activities.
LSS+: Many organizations have found the TSS mod-
el effective for the majority of improvement issues (see
Figure 2, p. 43). But, there are always certain improve-
ment activities that do not require detailed quantita-
tive analysis or that pertain mainly to the flow of work
rather than the quality of work.
For such opportunities, the TSS model would be
effective, but many of the tools involved would be
deemed unnecessary. Therefore, leading organizations
have found that the lean BoK can be effectively taught
and integrated into the DMAIC method so BBs, GBs
and team members can employ tools that are appro-
priate to the opportunity. The LSS+ model provides
flexibility in problem solving and economy of scale in
deployment costs.
Under the LSS+ model, Champions and MBBs
determine the type of problem under consideration
and then determine the method best suited to the prob-
lem in terms of time, cost and quality, as well as the
predicted results.

TABLE 1 (CONTINUED)
Service Industrial
Phase Lean Six Sigma core skills TSS LSS+ LSSL TL
BB GB BB GB
Design for Six Sigma overview • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Generating and selecting concepts • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
2^k full factorial experimentation • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
2^(k-p) fractional factorial experimentation • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Monte Carlo simulation • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Measurement systems for service applications • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Empirical optimization • ⻫ ⻫
Response surface models • ⻫ ⻫
Improve

General nonlinear optimization • ⻫ ⻫

Measurement systems for industrial applications • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Survey analysis techniques • ♦ ⻫
Queuing analysis • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Lean office • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Cycle time reduction • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Forecasting techniques • ♦ ⻫
Discrete event simulation • ⻫
Strategy maps and scorecarding • • ⻫ ⻫
Piloting concepts • • ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Implementing new designs • • ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Performance measurement • • ⻫ ⻫
Nonparametric statistical methods • • ⻫ ⻫
Reliability for industrial and service applications • • ⻫ ⻫
Reliability distribution analysis • • ⻫ ⻫
Total productive maintenance • • ⻫
Control

Rational subgrouping • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Variables control charts • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Attributes control charts • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Test plans • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫
Control plans • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Closing projects • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫
Sustaining the gains • ♦ • ♦ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫ ⻫

January 2008 • QP 45
 If a Six Sigma approach is warranted, a proj-
ect is launched under the traditional DMAIC model.
However, after the analyze phase is completed, the Cham-
pion and BB could decide that lean tools might provide a
more effective solution.
On the other hand, if a lean approach is warranted,
then the duration of the define, measure and analyze
phases of the DMAIC process can be shortened. If the
lean tools will provide an appropriate solution, the time
involved in the improve phase can also be shortened.
The DMA phases typically take between six and eight
weeks for a traditional DMAIC project versus two to
three weeks for a lean oriented DMAIC project. The im-
prove phase can often be accomplished in five days for
a lean DMAIC project, whereas it could run three to five
weeks for a TSS project (see Figure 3, p. 43).
The main benefit of the LSS+ model is that an organi-
zation can develop the skill sets of its BBs, GBs and team
members in all four BoKs. This allows cost-effective
training and flexibility in approaching different types of
problems that could exist throughout the organization.
LSSL: This model entails use of the DMAIC structure,
a limited set of Six Sigma tools (tending toward the sim-
pler ones) and the mainstream lean tools.
This method can be effective on well-understood
problems related to the flow of product or work units
though a multistep process. But the number and types of
problems that can be solved with the LSSL method are
limited to issues pertaining to flow of work or material
and to solutions that can be brainstormed without de-
tailed quantitative analysis.
The LSSL method might not be well suited as a general
method for solving all problems in operations, but it has
a definite benefit when applied to smaller-scope projects
under a kaizen philosophy.
The main benefit of this approach is that smaller-scale

Business functions and most relevant methods / FIGURE 4

Customer(s): end
user, reseller, original
equipment manufacturer
Management process
Marketing
Customer(s): end
Management process user, reseller, original
equipment manufacturer
Sales
Management process Management process Management process

Management process Product one Process

Operations
design design
Strategic planning

Portfolio management process

Management process Management process Management process
Management process
Product Process
Operations
Product portfolio design design
management

Management process Management process

Technology portfolio Technology
management development Management process
Administrative
Management process and support
functions
Technology
research
Business process reengineering
VOC
DFSS
DMAIC
Lean

46 QP • www.qualityprogress.com

The lean tools tended to require
less quantitative analysis than
Six Sigma tools.
improvement activities can be scheduled so a five-day
improve phase can be executed in a different work
cell each week. This helps to formalize a culture of im-
provement and instill organizational learning.
The main drawback to this approach is that when
we encounter a problem that cannot be readily ad-
dressed using the lean and basic Six Sigma tools, the
solution tends to be a Band-Aid. We end up putting in
place a suboptimal solution that might necessitate fur-
ther improvement efforts in the future.
TL: As shown in Figure 1 (p. 42), the traditional lean
model involves the use of a number of tools that have
been adapted from the TPS approach. The TL model
has proven quite effective when applied systemati-
cally to repetitive processes involving flow of material,
transactions or physical product.
The TL model usually involves some basic statisti-
cal methods, such as control charting, but the main
Six Sigma tools involving data analysis and quantify-
ing root cause are uncommon. This method has proven
most effective for operations involving the production,
processing or distribution of work or product.
Recommended BoK
There are obviously many opinions about what lean Six
Sigma is and how certification criteria should be devel-
oped. Even so, there seem to be trends based on how
multiple private, governmental and consulting organi-
zations tend to practice lean Six Sigma.
One key thing to remember goes all the way back to
the very first DMAIC BB training developed at Motoro-
la’s Six Sigma Research Institute in 1991. The thinking
then, as it should be now, was that lean Six Sigma train-
ing should provide the right tools and skills for the task
at hand, and that we do not teach tools simply for their
academic value.
The main decision that deployment Champions should
make is to choose what mix of skills is best, given the de-
velopment costs for those skills and the problems that
can be solved as a result of the investment.
LEAN SIX SIGMA
Some organizations—financial services, healthcare
and government services to name a few—could per-
haps benefit most from the LSSL model at the GB level
if BBs are trained and certified at the LSS+ level. Other
organizations—namely manufacturing and design com-
panies, could benefit most from training all BBs and
GBs at the LSS+ level.
Furthermore, the need for varied skill sets among
lean Six Sigma practitioners might well be different
based on line of business. The key is to perform a prop-
er needs analysis prior to making any significant invest-
ment in LSS deployment and training.
Table 1 (pp. 44-45) shows the BoK for various cer-
tification levels, types of organizations and recom-
mended lean Six Sigma model. Note that the TSS, LSS+
and LSSL models typically involve certification based
on demonstrated competence of the tools within the
DMAIC structure. The list of tools found in the TL mod-
el, however, is based simply on how many companies
train their personnel in lean methods, for which no cer-
tification is typically granted.
What the future holds
Figure 4 shows the general relationship between the
various business functions within a typical organiza-
tion. If we examine what has taken place since Motoro-
la’s initial Six Sigma deployment in 1987, perhaps some
future trends will become evident.
A business will conduct market research prior to
strategic planning to gain insight into the market condi-
tions and performance of its existing lines of business.
Once a strategic plan is conceived, marketing and R&D
personnel will formulate a way to meet the strategic
objectives in terms of such aspects such as products
to be released and revenue to be generated through a
process known as portfolio management.
For future product and process dvelopment pro-
grams, true research and development will support the
technology side of portfolio management, and market-
ing will determine the business case for each activity.
January 2008 • QP 47
 Do not teach tools simply for
their academic value.
From the portfolio management process, the organiza-
tion will launch and define new product development
programs in which it develops the product, designs the
process and begins to produce saleable units.
Most knowledgeable people will admit that when
Six Sigma was conceived at Motorola, it was an initia-
tive aimed at improving operations through increased
product and process quality. Motorola saw tangential
benefits in areas such as cost savings and customer
goodwill, but the training that was developed and de-
livered at Motorola’s Six Sigma Research Institute was
definitely manufacturing and product oriented.
When Six Sigma was deployed at GE by various
consultants, the corporation had the foresight to real-
ize that Six Sigma principles could be pushed further
into the value stream. Starting in the late 1990s, several
GE divisions developed similar but competing methods
for DFSS.
Today, many organizations have developed their
own DFSS methods, which have shown tangible bene-
fits in increased effectiveness in product development,
including decreased development cost and time, and
increased product and process quality.
GE made another contribution to the current prac-
tice of lean Six Sigma by integrating the BPR method
and adding the define phase to the standard MAIC
method being used in the mid-1990s.
If we boil down what has transpired, organizations
have simply been tailoring the Six Sigma method and
the use of tools to suit different business functions—
first operations, then administrative and support func-
tions, and finally development processes.
This leaves two areas of the functional arrangement
that typical companies have generally not addressed
by quantitative business improvement methods such
as lean Six Sigma:
1. The upfront processes related to market research,
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48 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
strategic planning and portfolio management.
2. The supply chain.
Granted, many organizations have run projects in
these areas, and some organizations have even pushed
lean Six Sigma into the supply chain. However, there
do not appear to be structured methods for accom-
plishing these aims that can be readily adapted across
many organizations. These two areas would seem to be
good opportunities for further expansion of quantita-
tive improvement in the future.
REFERENCES
1. Mikel J. Harry and Ronald Schroeder, Six Sigma: The Breakthrough Manage-
ment Strategy Revolutionizing the World’s Top Corporations, Currency, 2000.
2. G.A. Rummler and A.P. Brache, Improving Performance: How to Manage the
White Space on the Organization Chart, Jossey-Bass, 1995.
3. Michael Hammer and James Champy, Reengineering the Corporation: A
Manifesto for Business Revolution, Harper Business, 1994.
4. C.M. Creveling, J.L. Slutsky and Dave Antis Jr., Design for Six Sigma: In Tech-
nology and Product Development, Prentice Hall PTR, 2003.
5. Dennis Pascal, Lean Production Simplified: A Plain Language Guide to the
World’s Most Powerful Production System, Productivity Press, 2002.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barney, Matt, “Motorola’s Second Generation,” Six Sigma Forum Magazine,
May 2002, pp. 13-16.
Hoerl, Roger, Cathy Lawson, Wade E. Molnau, Russ Elias, Bovas Abraham,
Jock MacKay, Ronald D. Snee, Thomas Pyzdek, William J. Hill, Forrest W.
Breyfogle III, David Enck, Becki Meadows and Steven P. Bailey, “Six Sigma
Black Belts: What Do They Need to Know?” with subsequent discussions
and response, Journal of Quality Technology, October 2001, pp. 391-435.
Hoerl, Roger, “An Inside Look at Six Sigma at GE,” Six Sigma Forum Magazine,
May 2002, pp. 35-44.
Liker, J. K., The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles From the World’s Great-
est Manufacturer, McGraw-Hill, 2005.
Ruffa, S.A., and M.J. Perozziello, Breaking the Cost Barrier: A Proven Approach
to Managing and Implementing Lean Manufacturing, John Wiley & Sons,
2000.
Womack, J.P., and D.T. Jones, Lean Solutions: How Companies and Customers
Can Create Value and Wealth Together, Free Press, 2005.
DOUGLAS P. MADER is the CEO of SigmaPro Inc., a
consulting firm headquartered in Fort Collins, CO. Sig-
maPro specializes in the deployment of lean Six Sigma
and design for Six Sigma. Mader was formerly with the
Six Sigma Academy and Motorola’s Six Sigma Research
Institute. He earned a doctorate in mechanical/indus-
trial engineering from Colorado State University and is
a senior member of ASQ and the Institute for Industrial
Engineers.
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Internal Revenue Service CIGNA Healthcare Quality, Eaton Corporation

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LE
L
 EDUCATION

CLASSROOM
SSONS by Maurice
Ghysels

EARNED
School district offers ideas
for continuous improvement

PUBLIC EDUCATION OFTEN tries to emulate the

In 50 Words
successful methods of industry. However, the experience of a Or Less
school district in California offers several lessons about achieving • While implementing
a process of continu-
continuous improvement (CI) in the corporate world. The lessons ous improvement, a
California school district
for companies—and other schools—include listening to customers learned lessons that are
and involving those who have the greatest stake in the outcomes in applicable to industry.
• Getting the right people
the solution. on board, doing the right
things, encouraging risk,
In 2005, I arrived in Mountain View, CA, in the heart of Silicon tapping the power of
Valley, as the new superintendent of schools for the Mountain View teams and delivering on
promises were essential.
Whisman School District (MVWSD). A background in business • The primary focus of
improvement should be
made me determined to use quality tools that would result in a CI on the customers.
culture to help students succeed.

January 2008 • QP 51
 Academic performance index (API)
score / FIGURE 1
Mountain View Whisman School District
2005-2006 Base API & 2007 API Growth
785
783
780
775 778
Score
770
765
764
760
2005 2006 2007
Year
While the process to achieve a culture of CI is too
new to MVWSD to significantly impact test scores, the
district’s state scores are steadily increasing, as shown
in Figure 1, which depicts modest gains in MVWSD’s
academic performance index (API).
Castro School, MVWSD’s only No Child Left Be-
hind (NCLB) program improvement school, has been
removed from a growing list of schools the federal
government is threatening to cut funds from because
of poor student test scores. Castro School had an
amazing 69% increase in its API and surpassed all
NCLB annual yearly progress requirements.
MVWSD’s student enrollment and attendance are on
the rise for the first time in four years, as 54% more par-
ents have transferred their children into MVWSD than
out. Moreover, an important measure of improvement
is that teachers and principals are actively seeking em-
ployment with the school system.
The lessons from MVWSD might seem surprisingly
obvious and practical, and perhaps they are simply re-
minders of what works in any organization.
Leadership
According to Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, “If
we get the right people on the bus, the right people in
the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus, then
BONUS CONTENT ONLINE
MVWSD fifth graders have plenty to say about continuous improvement
in the sidebar “What Students Think” at www.qualityprogress.com.
52 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
we’ll figure out how to take it someplace great.”1
Whether it’s demonstrating empathy after learning
about a customer’s experience or using a quality tool
to measure personal results, top leadership within an
organization must model behavior—not just talk about
it. This requires leaders who truly believe in quality.
No program, process or system can replace talent.
From principals and directors to teachers and assis-
tant superintendents, throughout the first two years
of creating a CI culture, we first had to get the right
people on the bus and then figure out where to drive
it. The right people wouldn’t need to be tightly man-
aged or fired up; they would be more self-motivated to
produce the best results, be part of creating something
great and be connected to a strong team.
At the center of working toward CI are leaders who
genuinely want to know what it takes to satisfy cus-
tomers and aim to harness and optimize individuals’
natural talents. They do this by managing the innova-
tion process within a clearly defined quality improve-
ment framework that, in time, will lead to the culture
making CI the heartbeat of the entire organization.2
To this end, like frontline team members in any
corporation, teachers must be considered equally
important leaders and at the center of efforts toward
CI. Selecting teachers to train as early adopters was
paramount for our improvement effort to gain traction.
At MVWSD, we had to identify volunteers who were
known for modeling a positive and productive learning
environment centered on students (customers).
As in the private sector, a positive change effort must
be both bottom-up and top-down. The district provides
the structure under which teachers are the experts and
leaders—the CI process’s greatest resource—while
district’s leadership sets the vision and promotes a cul-
ture of learning and collaboration.
The district’s leadership also realized from the on-
set that it could not succeed without the support of its
board of education (see the sidebar “Comparing School
and Corporate Boards” at www.qualityprogress.com).
The district is dedicated to developing its CI effort
beyond the confines of its schools. The superinten-
dent, management, teachers, staff and trustees place a
premium on building a strong community. To this end,
the district promotes quality improvement not
only in the classroom, but at the district of-
fice and in transportation, food services and
IT. Spreading into the community, CI is used
 EDUCATION

during back-to-school nights, educational foun-

dation meetings, parent meetings and extracur-
ricular activities.

Alignment
Doing the right things is just as important as do-
ing things right. In the beginning (fall 2005), I ob-
served glazed-over eyes during my PowerPoint
presentation on our new management by objec-
tives. To me, it was a straightforward discourse
on organizational alignment and an eloquent and
expository cascade of the usual verbiage of vi-
sion to mission, mission to goals, goals to action
and action to results.
But then came the courageously raised hand
in the back of the room and the honest reaction:
“By the way, what is our goal? What are you try-
ing to say? Why are we here?”
In realizing that we needed to start setting QUALITY TOOLS IN USE: A teacher used a radar diagram to demonstrate behavior
goals not only from the top, but from the bottom, assessment to students.

we knew we had to select the right trainer. A year-

long search led to Jay Marino, a quality improvement
expert who had been a teacher and understood the
challenges in classrooms.
Besides finding the right trainer, identifying the suit-
able course content was important. We discovered
materials from ASQ that fit our business—the class-
room—and our cultural expectations.
Identifying the initial 22 teacher leaders to target in
our pilot training session was a do-or-die proposition
for the whole program. Without the first string of teach-
ers motivated to learn and deploy quality improvement
processes leading to CI, the approach would have
stalled or simply disappeared.
The trainer actually used quality tools such as
student data folders, classroom dashboards and the
plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycle to teach the course.
Moreover, by teaching how to align teachers’ goals to
students’ goals, the teachers were more apt to pay at-
tention to organizational goals.
One teacher admitted, “Most teachers have used or
attempted many of the elements of quality improve-
ment before they were introduced but failed to put the
pieces together to really be effective. So a CI culture
provides the framework to connect these elements to
a common goal.”
Quality experts from industry also coached me and
other key leaders. For example, I received coaching
in overall strategy and change management, and the
management team learned about project and program
(portfolio) management training from Synopsis Inc.
This training was a key to organizing improvement ef-
forts, completing tasks and reaching milestones,

ABOUT THE DISTRICT

Located between the headquarters of Google and Apple near the southern tip of San Francisco Bay, the Mountain View
Whisman School District (MVWSD) has 4,300 students from highly diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.
It serves a community of about 70,000 residents in the northern part of Santa Clara County, California’s most populous
county. This is an area where orchards have given way to industrial parks and crops of tech firms have replaced the fruit.
The district has six elementary schools (K-5) and two middle schools (6-8). Graduates of MVWSD attend schools in the
Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District.

January 2008 • QP 53
 particularly for districtwide operations and leader-
ship.
Additionally, the district’s top management attended
several ASQ conferences where attendees learned not
only the right solutions, but also the right questions,
from experienced educational leaders and subject mat-
ter experts. An ASQ network provided the opportunity
to share ideas and strategies about what works, as well
as traps and snares to avoid.
Because our struggle for alignment was not linear and
sequential, leadership remained calm about attracting
talent, developing frontline leadership and education,
and doing things right versus doing the right things.
Encourage risk taking
While our resources were finite, we were limitless in
enthusiasm for the early adopters’ first experimenta-
tion with quality improvement in their classrooms. We
established a director level position in organizational
Data center or dashboard / FIGURE 2
CI site plan
development, implementation
and evaluation
School
improvement
plan
School data center
Goal Goal
effectiveness and shifted copious amounts of training
dollars to quality improvement efforts. We simultane-
ously and earnestly sought genuine feedback from the
early adopters during and after the training and began
to experience sustainability in our organization.
Leadership treated positive and negative feedback
with equal attention and respect, and in the spirit of
a healthy learning organization, the teachers taught
administrators what worked and what needed more
consideration, time or attention.
Collaboration was key to building learning commu-
nities. As one elementary teacher put it after the im-
provement process was instituted, “You walk into staff
rooms, and you hear other teachers talking about suc-
cesses and struggles, and you hear teachers publicly
collaborating on how to deal with their struggles.”
We regularly visited classes and observed teachers’
interactions with students on an ongoing basis. (See the
sidebar “What Students Think” at www.qualityprogress.
com). The district’s management team conducted month-
ly meetings at different schools to reflect on what was
taking shape in classrooms. This put a spotlight on the
early adopters’ work and allowed all to share best prac-
tices. Quality improvement’s reputation grew and became
contagious.
By trusting the teachers who were brave enough to
try it, we learned to solve problems and make better
decisions together. This was crucial during quality im-
provement’s early do-or-die stages.
The leadership team encouraged healthy debate
and productive conflict about quality improvement’s
use with students. We demonstrated to our teachers
(also our customers) that we took and used their au-
thentic feedback and placed no restraints on the teams
or punishment for negative feedback.
We even invited those who were initially opposed to

Teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher the quality improvement effort to visit classrooms and
Quality Quality then ask tough questions at the all-staff meeting.
leader leader
Teacher Teacher Teacher Teacher
The power of teamwork
Teacher Teacher
In an organization with no monetary bonuses, an indi-
Goal vidual’s connection to a team and its purpose cannot
be overemphasized. Our data centers began to produce

Teacher Teacher measurements against clear goals that had resulted

Quality from the efforts of individual improvement teams.
leader These teams—whether a classroom of students, a
Teacher Teacher
group of fifth grade teachers or the district’s business
Teacher
department—began to receive recognition and praise.

54 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
 EDUCATION

Our credo is that if a team meets its goal,

that’s not the end of improvement. And if it
doesn’t reach its goal, we don’t blame individu-
als; we work the process using CI. Because
there aren’t monetary bonuses, the connection
to the team through concrete metrics has to be
as exciting as the connection of an enthusiastic
Texas high school player to his football team,
which also plays for no monetary gain.
The power of a functional team cannot be
overstated in the journey to a culture of CI. Au-
thor Patrick Lencioni says, “Not finance. Not
strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that re-
mains the ultimate competitive advantage, both
because it is so powerful and so rare.”3
By demonstrating a commitment to seeing
teachers and students successfully use quality
improvement methods, leadership gradually QUALITY CLASSROOM: Frances Medalen, a student teacher in the Edith Landels School’s
convinced stakeholders that we were being held fourth grade classroom of Patricia Galazzo, works with enthusiastic students.

accountable for the success of our students and

thus were serious about our attention to students’ suc-
cess. We modeled the same behavior with our teachers
that we expected them to model to their students.
One teacher remarked, “Quality improvement fills
a huge need for teachers. The age-old question of how
do we get our students motivated to learn has been an-
swered by empowering children to take responsibility
for their own learning by setting goals, tracking their
progress and celebrating their successes.”
Besides an informal teamwork structure based on
these values, we also created a formal governance
structure—a districtwide CI leadership team—to blur
the lines between administrators and teachers and em-
power teachers to lead even more.
Measuring execution excellence
To add to the governance structure, we agreed on the
eight components of a CI classroom that all teachers
are expected to learn and deploy in their classrooms
and schools by year-end 2008:
1. Student created ground rules.
2. Mission statements.
3. Statistical methodology analysis reporting tech-
nique (SMART) goals.
4. Classroom data centers.
5. Student data folders.
6. Quality tools, including the (PDSA) cycle.
7. Student led conferences.
8. Classroom meetings.
Besides developing the leadership skills to guide the
process of CI at each school, the CI leadership team de-
termines what the outcomes will look like and to what
depth quality improvement practices are implemented.
This will be gauged by a quality level matrix, with level
four being the deepest level of deployment. Table 1 (p.
56) is an example of level three quality.
In any organization, there must be excellence in
converting strategy into action with meaasurable
results. At the center of the MVWSD organization map
is the data center, or dashboard, to measure the most
critical metrics related to each goal (see Figure 2).
Whether in business or in school districts, how
much frustration and teamwork breakdown has oc-
curred due to half-finished projects and the lack of
follow through? We constantly remind each other of
our agreements and commitments to manage expecta-
tions, build trust, avoid burnout and failure and hold
each other accountable.

Focus on the customer

WEB EXCLUSIVE As quality moves beyond manufacturing
Read about how school and corporate boards compare at
www.qualityprogress.com. into service, healthcare, education and

January 2008 • QP 55

SOARING: Judy Levy, a resource specialist at Edith Landels School, stands in front of a
bulletin board that shows one of the ways students reach their goals.
government, we shouldn’t base our improvement jour-
ney on tools or skills. Instead, the quality journey in
education is a conscious shift in how we think about
our service to students, parents and teachers—all our
customers.
In some cases, school districts, government agen-
cies and even businesses can lose sight of their prima-
ry purpose—to serve.
Rather than rush into using quality improvement
tools and discussions about the obscure statisti-
cal detail of customer dissatisfaction occurrences
per million customer contacts, we should focus
Level three quality / TABLE 1
Complete all outcomes of quality levels one and two.
Implement student data folders in the classroom.
Facilitate the process of having students set individual goals that align to
classroom SMART goals performance monitoring model (kept in individual
student data folders).
Facilitate the process of having students create their own mission
statements that align with the classroom mission statement (kept in
individual student data folders).
Implement regular classroom meetings. Students lead the meeting and
facilitate the discussion around the progress toward class goals, measures
and mission. Student feedback is used to drive the class meetings.
Use at least six quality tools (brainstorming, affinity diagram, nominal
group technique, run chart, flowchart, cause and effect diagram, force field
analysis, Pareto diagram or relations diagram) with students.
56 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
our attention on the emotional and practical
experiences of those we serve.
One teacher said, “Students love being a part
of something they have a voice in.” In fact, the
most important aspect of CI is listening to our
customers. Even though we were initially cau-
tious about calling students or parents “exter-
nal customers” or teachers “internal custom-
ers,” we did not shy away from asking the basic
questions:
• Who are the customers?
• What does it take to satisfy them?
• What measures do we use to know custom-
ers are satisfied?
Who are the customers? The answers
quickly became apparent and, in some cases,
were surprising: Not only were some team
members unable to identify their customers,
but some also refuted the idea that they should
even have customers. Some believed they were
their own customers and were accountable to no one
except for policy, regulations and rules (similar to a
compliance driven organization).
Who are the customers?
Some members became overwhelmed by the thought
of having too many types of customers: students, par-
ents and trustees. In other cases, the whole notion of
customers was confusing. Were the customers always
right? Who cares if they come or go? This is school, it’s
free, and it’s mandatory.
What does it take to satisfy them? To break
down paradigms about customers, we started quality
improvement not simply with tools or skills, but by
modeling our attitudes and beliefs around customers
and their experiences. Simply setting up structures to
routinely listen to teachers went a long way, even when
they knew we couldn’t be all things to everyone.
This effort was mostly in the form of listening, em-
pathizing and trying to understand what it was like to
be in the customers’ shoes. For some examples of high
level administrators modeling customer service, go
to the sidebar “Modeling Customer Service” at www.
qualityprogress.com.
Demonstrating empathy was the easy part. What
was difficult was breaking down the hierarchy and
power structure of the district. People who receive
negative feedback often become defensive or hurt.

As in the private sector, a positive
change effort must be both bottom-up
and top-down.
They insist on learning who complained and then re-
taliate or respond directly.
As in so many organizations, we had to address the
mentality about service. We started at the emotional
level of recognizing that the customer is more impor-
tant than a position of power—in short, nobody is go-
ing around anybody when he or she is trying to make
customers happy.
Even though satisfying the customer includes pro-
viding what is needed when it’s needed, it is not until
we listened to our customers that we really understood
their needs. This customer service practice was mod-
eled to identify the perceived need of the customer
and the need behind the need, which in most cases is
emotional.
As in so many businesses, the schooling of children
involves an array of issues related to fear, anxiety and
worry. Students, parents and teachers are under inor-
dinate amounts of stress, and there are so many things
that can go wrong in a single school day. Consistently
and genuinely demonstrating exceptional customer
service—such as listening, empathizing and being ac-
cessible to customers—is at the center of a quality or-
ganization.
What measures do we use to know customers
are satisfied? Saying we have exceptional customer
service and asking students, parents and employees
about how we’re doing can be two different things.
Having a tradition of asking our customers about their
satisfaction continues, as we take our customer sur-
veys and results seriously.
In the spring of 2007, more than half of the parents
of students in the district—2,222—responded to an
MVWSD survey. The survey points to a growing satis-
faction with the district’s schools and programs, with
MORE CONTENT ONLINE
Find other articles about using quality methods to improve education at
www.qualityprogress.com.
EDUCATION
90% or more parents saying they agreed or strongly
agreed with 18 statements related to satisfaction with
teaching, school safety and climate, teacher-student
relationships and operational effectiveness of schools.
Overcoming obstacles
Ultimately, the measure of our worth will be deter-
mined by standardized test scores, and there are many
obstacles often related to manpower, money, time con-
straints and federal measures on student achievement
that are fraught with issues. Because we are not a for-
profit organization, our challenge is to find the metrics
that make the most sense to describe student success.
As usual, we are using feedback to overcome obsta-
cles and work through barriers. Knowing that we have
a wait list of teachers and staff wanting quality training,
hearing greater demands for coaching and support and
fielding comments that we must go faster sure beats the
alternative views of “This too shall pass,” “It won’t work
in schools” and “This is too corporate.”
Listening and learning about your customers’ needs
and not assuming that any solution—in this case the
journey to a culture of CI—is the right solution lies at
the core of achieving excellence.
REFERENCES
1. Jim Collins, Good to Great, HarperCollins, 2001.
2. Jon Bumstead and Andy Bruce, “Rediscovering Continual Improvement,”
Accenture, www.accenture.com/Global/Research_and_Insights/Outlook/
By_Alphabet/RediscoveringImprovement.htm (case sensitive).
3. Patrick Lencioni, Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Jossey-Bass, 2002.
MAURICE GHYSELS, before becoming superintendent
of schools in California’s Mountain View Whisman
School District, had experience as a quality consultant
in corporations and high-tech start-ups. He earned a
doctorate in education, organizational development
and training from the University of San Francisco.
Ghysels is a member of ASQ.
January 2008 • QP 57
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(cont. on p. 60)

January 2008 • QP 59
 Special Advertising Section

(cont. from p. 59) by forecasting which nonvalue-adding activities can be reduced or

eliminated,” Goldman explains.
forecasting offered by Oracle’s Crystal Ball products. This software
Companies operating in the healthcare arena are faced with wasteful
helps mitigate operational and financial risks by identifying and
components just as are those in the service and manufacturing
controlling the negative effects of variation and waste. “Crystal Ball
sectors. Mark Mathews, M.D., who serves as the CEO and managing
is an especially powerful tool for projects where you have little or
partner of Creative Healthcare, USA, says, “Lean provides a
no historical data or where cycle time is prohibitively long, because
framework for systematically analyzing and removing wasteful steps
simulation can be used to estimate data that might otherwise be
from any process. By analyzing process steps for wasteful activities,
unavailable,” remarks Larry Goldman, product marketing senior
a hospital can easily remove those nonvalue-added steps and
manager for Oracle’s Crystal Ball global business unit.
realize 30 percent or more in cost savings and benefits.” Mathews’
There are many excellent products and services in the marketplace organization specifically focuses on the healthcare industry and
that can better equip your organization to capitalize on the lean offers a team of experienced consultants and physician leaders to
component of Lean Six Sigma, that is, to focus on eliminating provide consulting and training services on Six Sigma, Baldrige,
nonvalue-added activities and waste. For example, organizations patient safety, benchmarking, and more.
can adopt the Instantis EnterpriseTrack as a complete life-cycle
Of course it’s vital to understand that lean and Six Sigma are
solution for lean-focused project portfolios. This includes the ability
complementary and synergistic solutions or approaches to an
to align projects with strategic objectives, select projects based on
organization’s challenges. For example, JMP’s Valente says that
voice of customer, manage lean master training, build and leverage
if you apply lean principles to a process that has significant
a lean project knowledge base, and execute and report on waste
variability, all you do is become very effective at producing waste
reduction results, says Wayne Caccamo, vice president of marketing
with tremendous efficiency. Conversely, he notes, you can have the
for Instantis, a leading provider of enterprise software for managing
most invariant product or process and if you don’t leverage lean
top-down initiatives to improve financial performance and achieve
principles to that product or process, your competitors will find and
operational excellence.
close any gap that exists which could result in the loss of market
Oracle’s Crystal Ball products can help companies identify their share in today’s competitive landscape.
current process capability through simulation, even when data is
The benefits of combining lean and Six Sigma are tremendous as
missing, estimated, or costly to acquire. “Crystal Ball’s sensitivity
Goldman of Oracle explains, “Lean Six Sigma is the perfect balance
analysis can be applied to identify the primary inhibitors to process
flow, and its optimization tool helps establish optimal lean pull (cont. on p. 62)

Data/sheet linking, preformatted tables,

Enterprise Six Sigma With FMEA-Pro 7
Six Sigma
Businesses are constantly looking for ways
to increase profitability; and with the
introduction of DMAIC Six Sigma in the
1980s, manufacturing companies have been
doing just that. In fact, many companies
using DMAIC Six Sigma have been able to
achieve “four sigma” process levels.
In an effort to reach Six Sigma, Design for
Six Sigma (DFSS) was introduced, giving
engineering the tools needed to develop a
more robust design. By creating a design
with manufacturing capabilities in mind, a
Six Sigma process becomes achievable.
However, DFSS and Six Sigma programs
require significant levels of collaboration.
The most difficult task is ensuring the
correct information is distributed to the
proper people. By linking design and
and hyperlinked references to worksheets
streamline efficiency, reduce paperwork,
manufacturing information (DFMEA, PFMEA,
and enable companies to collaborate
control plans, etc.), FMEA-Pro 7 enables
through the quality process. Immediate
companies to lower costs and improve
access to the right information, built-in
communication.
libraries, and your own legacy studies,
FMEA-Pro 7: Delivering FMEA-Pro 7 enables personnel to create
better quality studies faster. FMEA-Pro 7
Maximum Value
empowers managers with business-critical
Companies can improve profitability by
information by listing quality issues and
reducing defects, recalls, production
defining responsibilities for the resolution
downtime, and waste by employing best
of those issues.
practices in their failure modes and effects
analysis studies. FMEA-Pro 7 combines extensive insight and
power to provide not only a competitive
FMEA-Pro 7 does this in ways traditional
edge in design and development, but also in
spreadsheets cannot. With its ability
customer satisfaction and retention. Better-
to track and link enormous amounts
made products up and down the design and
of data from various departmental and
manufacturing process ensure your customers
individual sources and organize it into
get the highest quality and most reliable
professional reports, critical information
products faster and at less cost.
can be communicated and acted upon
automatically by key personnel.

Dyadem is a global technology provider helping companies deliver high value, reliable products by enhancing
their enterprise quality realization processes. Dyadem’s solutions link quality planning and execution across the
enterprise in a proactive manner aligning functional groups with executive strategy and operations.
www.dyadem.com • 905-882-5055

60 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
Throughout the Ages we’ve sought wisdom
in the Mountains.You still can…
Come to Knoxville, Tennessee—
where useful techniques, and the way of thinking that makes them work, are taught.
Learn from Donald J. Wheeler.
You and your company will be glad you did!

Understanding Statistical Process Control

SPC for Manufacturing & Process Industries
March 3 - 6, 2008 • September 8 - 11, 2008

Practical Data Analysis

Doing Six Sigma Better
April 7 - 10, 2008 • October 13 - 16, 2008

Successful Experimentation
Making Industrial Experiments Work
October 27 - 30, 2008

Understanding Variation
In-House Only

Evaluating the Measurement Process

In-House Only

1.0

EMP III
0.9

0.8

0.7

0.6
EVALUATING THE
0.5
MEASUREMENT PROCESS
&
Probability of Detecting Three Standard Error Shift

0.4

0.3
USING IMPERFECT DATA
0.2
I II III IV

0.1
DONALD J. WHEELER
I
0.0
1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0
Intraclass Correlation Coefficient

Statistical Process Control, Inc. & SPC Press • www.spcpress.com

5908 Toole Drive, Suite C Knoxville, Tennessee 37919 USA • 1-800-545-8602
 Special Advertising Section

(cont. from p. 60)
between the need for speed in operations and the need for high
quality products and processes. Because each methodology offers
tools to address a unique set of problems, companies have more
flexibility in how they choose to solve operational and transactional
inefficiencies.
Other benefits of pairing lean and Six Sigma are highlighted by
Caccamo of Instantis, who recommends combining lean and Six
Sigma to deliver quality products faster for a competitive advantage
in revenue generation, cost structure, and customer satisfaction.
Despite the success stories reported by organizations that have
adopted Lean Six Sigma practices, many still shy away from this
methodology. JMP’s Valente believes the problem lies in the delivery
and training of Lean Six Sigma and the tendency to present it as
a panacea for all corporate ills. “It would be more constructive if
it was rolled out as an extension to the toolbox of quality tools
to leverage at the right time in the right situation. I also believe
people fear that the efficiencies gained by leveraging Lean Six
Sigma may inevitably cause the elimination of jobs. Therefore it is
important to communicate a credible vision of what will be done
with the resources that become available once these efficiencies
have been made,” suggests Valente.
Some organizations aren’t capitalizing on Lean Six Sigma because
they aren’t ready or able to make a full commitment to the
methodology. Mathews has noticed that because Lean Six Sigma
demands an upfront investment, perhaps without immediate results,
there is an uncertainty in the payoff and risks involved. “Most
organizations don’t realize that the successful implementation of
Lean Six Sigma requires an organizational culture change that takes
time and proper implementation. The most common mistake that
I see organizations make is to do just one or two projects or ‘just
train a few people for now’ and then expect sweeping changes in
their organization. Only when entities jump in with both feet will
they see the kind of results that are commonly reported today
by the pioneers who adopted Lean Six Sigma early on,”
Mathews states.
Hathaway from moresteam.com lists three reasons why he believes
organizations are reluctant to utilize Lean Six Sigma: the perception
that it’s too hard to do well, it’s too hard to implement, and the
belief that it’s only worth doing until the next thing comes along.
Without the strong, active, and unwavering commitment for Lean
Six Sigma from top management, many of the rank and file may take
the “it too shall pass” attitude resulting from past failed business
transformation initiatives, says Caccamo. “Once everyone is convinced
that Lean Six Sigma isn’t going away; they will get on board. There
is also a perception that process improvement projects can be long
and overly structured. Lean is helping to change this view with its
relatively stronger focus on quick wins,” he remarks.
To learn more about balancing speed and quality through Lean
Six Sigma, take a closer look at the products and services featured
in this special advertising section; you will be better equipped
to help your organization reduce nonvalue-added practices while
improving quality. ❖

EtQ for Manufacturing Streamlined Quality Process Using

Corporate Profile
EtQ is the leading Enterprise Quality and Compliance
Management Software for identifying, mitigating,
and preventing high-risk events through integration,
automation, and collaboration.
EtQ uses best-in-class integrated modules and
enterprise application integration to manage and
measure quality and compliance processes and
execute organizational change.
Major Products
EtQ for Manufacturing is an integrated quality and
compliance management software system that
has been preconfigured to specifically address
the needs of the manufacturing industry and ISO
9000 processes. EtQ’s unique modular approach
provides unparalleled flexibility and automation.
Risk Assessment
Unified Quality Process EtQ’s Quality Management Software system is
Too often quality processes are disconnected. EtQ’s designed to minimize the number of corrective
software allows processes to be linked, automatically actions using an advanced filtering model:
and intelligently. Quality events are assessed • Automatic segregation and categorization of
and investigated, resulting in the initiation of events at the source
corresponding downstream quality processes in order
to manage and measure compliance and execute
• Automatic identification and display of
related events
organizational change. Risk management tools
assess the quantitative risk of events throughout • Built-in risk assessment module
the process. The unified method of managing events • Initial assessment to allow early closure
results in an efficient system, where high-risk events
are prioritized, no time is lost, and no event is
• Full investigation with step-by-step root
cause analysis
overlooked.
• Automatic lookup and display of related
Connected to the Production Systems investigations and corrective actions
EtQ Connectors close the gap between production • Comprehensive corrective action and effectiveness
systems and the quality system. Modules like check plan with risk mitigation history
nonconforming materials and calibration connect to
ERP and CRM systems to fully automate the creation
and assignment of events. Production systems can
then be automatically updated throughout the event
resolution process.

EtQ, Inc. Fax: 516-293-0949

399 Conklin Street, Suite 208 E-mail: info@etq.com
Farmingdale, NY 11735-2614 Web: www.etq.com
Telephone: 516-293-0949

62 QP • www.qualityprogress.com

InfinityQS
Real-Time SPC Software for
Your Shop Floor, Enterprise,
and Supply Chain
InfinityQS is the No. 1 ranked provider
of real-time Statistical Process Control
(SPC) software and technical services to
manufacturers worldwide (ARC Advisory
Group). With a 17-year history of helping
businesses automate and implement SPC
solutions, InfinityQS has established a
strong presence throughout the U.S. and
internationally. To support its thousands
of customers, InfinityQS employs
industrial statisticians, ASQ Certified
Quality Engineers, ASQ Certified Quality
Technicians, and IT professionals with a
broad range of skills.
Thousands of manufacturers worldwide
rely on InfinityQS software to help reduce
scrap and improve their bottom line.
Customers include Rockwell Automation,
InfinityQS International, Inc.
14900 Conference Center Drive
Chantilly, VA 20151
Six Sigma Expertise and Quality
Market Leadership
Companies striving to improve quality
turn to Minitab for the software, support,
and services they need to achieve their
goals, and for good reason. Minitab has
a reputation for excellence built upon
providing accurate and reliable statistical
software to our customers for more than
30 years. We offer a suite of software
tools and services to meet your quality
needs, including:
• Minitab® Statistical Software
• Quality Companion 2 by Minitab™
• Training by Minitab™
• FREE technical support
Software You Can Count On
Minitab Statistical Software is a powerful
statistics package designed for quality
professionals. Minitab features: customizable
menus, toolbars, preferences, and profiles;
a StatGuide™ that helps you interpret
your output; and visually engaging graphs
Minitab Inc. 800-448-3555
Quality Plaza (US/Canada/Mexico)
1829 Pine Hall Road E-mail: sales@minitab.com
State College, PA 16801-3008 Web site: www.minitab.com
Special Advertising Section
Caterpillar, Honeywell, Ethicon Endo-
Surgery, Ball Corp., Duracell, Quaker
Oats, Tyson Foods, Raytheon, and Osram
Sylvania.
InfinityQS solutions are 100 percent
scalable and easily customizable to
enable manufacturers to reduce scrap and
rework, improve quality, and significantly
decrease costs. With automated
gathering, analysis, and reporting of data
across the enterprise, on the extranet
and through the Web, operations of any
size can benefit from InfinityQS.
Formerly known as “SPC Quality Suite,”
ProFicient™ is InfinityQS’ recent upgrade
to its industry-leading SPC software. It
automates data collection and analysis
on the plant floor, helping quality
professionals make informed decisions
to improve their manufacturing processes
in real-time, before defects occur.
1-800-772-7978
sales@infinityqs.com
www.infinityqs.com
that are easy to make, edit, and update
automatically. Minitab’s expansive collection
of methods—including basic and advanced
statistics, regression, ANOVA, SPC, DOE,
and more—make it the ideal choice
for Six Sigma and other quality
initiatives worldwide.
Quality Companion 2 by Minitab is
specifically designed for planning,
organizing, and executing Six Sigma
projects and then reporting on their
success. Together, Quality Companion 2 and
Minitab Statistical Software help companies
attain the maximum benefit from their
investment in quality improvement.
Outstanding Services
World-Class Training—We offer public
and on-site training courses around the
world, as well as Mentoring by Minitab™.
Our world-class trainers teach quality
It offers a clean and simple interface,
automatic recording and alerting of
events, more than 300 different types
of control charts, unlimited data sorting
on any chart or graph, and other
unique features.
eSPC™ extends the capabilities of SPC
software to the entire enterprise and
supply chain. It is a Software as a Service
(SaaS) solution for real-time quality
management, requiring minimal IT
infrastructure and support. Manufacturers
can conduct plant-to-plant or supplier-
to-supplier comparisons to scientifically
improve quality.
professionals how to quickly and skillfully
apply Minitab to their initiatives. Find out
more about our training and mentoring
services at www.minitab.com/training.
Exceptional, Free Technical Support—
Minitab users receive free technical support
available by phone, e-mail, or online from
a team of statistical specialists with years
of experience helping customers involved
in quality improvement.
Six Sigma Expertise and Market
Leadership—Our Six Sigma business
coordinator and staff are dedicated
exclusively to Six Sigma customers and
keep abreast of the latest advances in the
movement so they can respond quickly to
customers’ needs. Minitab is the package
used in Six Sigma projects around the world
and by the leading Six Sigma consultants
to train their global clientele.
January 2008 • QP 63

SigmaXL: A Leading Provider of User-Friendly Excel Add-Ins
for Statistical and Graphical Analysis
Our flagship product, SigmaXL, is cost-
effective, powerful, and easy to use. It will
enable you to measure, analyze, improve,
and control your service, transactional,
and manufacturing processes. As an add-in
to the already familiar Microsoft Excel,
SigmaXL is ideal for Six Sigma training. It is
rapidly becoming the tool of choice for Six
Sigma professionals.
Version 5.1 has just been released!
It includes new DMAIC templates and
menu and a Control Chart Selection Tool.
Compatible with Excel 2007 and Windows
Vista, SigmaXL can now accommodate more
than 1 million rows of data.
Other new features include user-friendly
design of experiments with unique “view
power analysis as you design,” measurement
systems analysis with confidence intervals,
multiple linear regression that accepts
SigmaXL
888-SigmaXL 888-744-6295 or 416-236-5877
E-mail: sales@SigmaXL.com
Web: www.SigmaXL.com
Summa Six Sigma Using
STATGRAPHICS Centurion XV.II
When dealing with data from real-world
processes, you need methods to handle
non-normality, outliers, autocorrelation,
and multivariate responses. STATGRAPHICS
Centurion XV.II from StatPoint Technologies
includes statistical methods which collectively
create a Summa Six Sigma approach to data
analysis. For non-normal data analysis, these
techniques are essential.
Multiple Response Variables
Most products and services are characterized
by more than one variable. Yet the quality of
such processes is often assessed one variable
at a time. When variables are correlated,
capability indexes that are highly misleading
and control charts that fail to detect unusual
conditions result. STATGRAPHICS Centurion
XV.II contains a procedure that calculates
a multivariate capability index, creating
multivariate control charts and ellipses that
detect unusual conditions that separated
control charts would miss. When combined
For additional information, please contact
StatPoint Technologies, Inc.
2325 Dulles Corner Boulevard
Suite 500, Herndon, VA 20171
64 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
Special Advertising Section
both continuous and categorical predictors, capability combination report, design of
capability combination report, and experiments, normality test, hypothesis
Weibull analysis. tests (low p-values are highlighted in red,
1 & 2 sample t, ANOVA, equal variance,
An example of user friendliness is the two-
chi-square, nonparametric), correlation
sample comparison test. It automatically
matrix, multiple and logistic regression,
tests for normality, equal variance, means,
Weibull analysis, box-cox transformation,
and medians, and provides a rules-based
control charts (with tests for special causes,
yellow highlight to aid the user in
scrolling, split limits, and add data to
interpretation of the output. Low p-values
chart), recall last dialog, and more!
are highlighted in red indicating that the
results are significant. A free 30-day trial version is available
for download from our Web site.
Priced at $199, SigmaXL is a fraction of
Quantity, educational, and trainer
the cost of any major statistical product,
discounts are available.
yet it has all the functionality most
professionals need. SigmaXL includes
multiple histograms, Paretos, boxplots,
dotplots, normal probability plots, scatter
plot matrix, multi-vari, gage R&R with
confidence intervals, power and sample size
calculators, sigma level calculators, process
rates. STATGRAPHICS Centurion XV.II provides
ARIMA and Cuscore control charts that capture
the dynamics of such processes and monitor
deviations from forecasted values.
with a principal component or PLS analysis,
new insights about process behavior
are realized.
Discover the Difference
STATGRAPHICS breezes through your standard
Outliers routines on normal, independent, outlier-free
data, or when dealing with one variable at
When deciding whether to include suspect
a time. But when you encounter non-normal
observations in your calculations, removing
data, the statistics software that implements
a valid data value (or not removing an
the full range of Summa Six Sigma methods
invalid data value) has serious implications.
to provide accurate solutions is STATGRAPHICS
STATGRAPHICS Centurion XV.II contains
methods such as Grubbs’ and Dixon’s tests to
Centurion XV.II.
determine when suspect data values should
StatPoint Technologies, Inc.
be removed. If removal is not desirable,
estimates of deviations based on trimming or For 27 years, StatPoint has made
Winsorization can accommodate the presence STATGRAPHICS Centurion XV.II the statistics
of outliers without distorting the results. package best suited to handle real-world
data. We are trusted by countless Fortune
Autocorrelation 500 companies as well as small enterprises
to ensure continuous improvement and
Samples taken from a process close together in
excellence. Contact us at 1-800-232-7828
time are frequently not independent.
or at info@statgraphics.com.
Such autocorrelation causes the usual control
charts to have unacceptably high false alarm
Phone: 800-232-7828
Fax: 540-364-0421
info@statgraphics.com

Data-Driven Decision Making
Software Tools for Six Sigma and
Manufacturing Intelligence
Turning data into actionable information is crucial
for mission-critical manufacturing environments.
More than 600,000 users benefit from STATISTICA’s
comprehensive array of data analysis, data
management, data visualization, and data mining
procedures. STATISTICA has been used by quality
professionals for more than 23 years and offers the
following important characteristics:
Comprehensiveness
STATISTICA offers an extremely comprehensive
assortment of analytical tools, graphics, and
reporting capabilities.
Usability
The simple, intuitive, and highly customizable
interfaces found in STATISTICA ensure that users will
adopt it quickly.
Integration
STATISTICA’s simple integration with virtually all
Contact StatSoft at 918-749-1119, or visit www.statsoft.com to learn more about our
high performance analytical solutions.
January 2008
Six Sigma Directory
For added convenience, we invite you to visit our Web site at http://www.asq.org
and link to the home site of each company listed in this directory. For additional
products and services, also visit ASQ’s Quality Resource Directory at
http://www.asq.org.
EtQ, Inc.
399 Conklin Street,
Suite 208
Farmingdale, NY 11735-2614
Telephone: 516-293-0949
Fax: 516-293-0949
E-mail: info@etq.com
Web: www.etq.com
EtQ is the leading Enterprise Quality and Compliance
Management Software for identifying, mitigating,
and preventing high-risk events through integration,
automation, and collaboration.
Special Advertising Section
database platforms ensures that data-driven decision
making will harness all of the data that’s available.
Open Architecture
Quality control activities require collaboration among
many individuals, and STATISTICA offers an open
architecture and tools to ensure analysis results are
easily accessible and transferable.
Feature Rich Applications
The STATISTICA Enterprise software system is the
data analysis platform used by Six Sigma and
manufacturing intelligence teams around the world.
STATISTICA provides a comprehensive suite of data
analysis, data mining, and visualization tools all
within a single software platform including a rich
palette of features:
• Largest selection of analytical techniques and
graphics
• Simple connections to data repositories
• Analysis templates
• Report templates
Harrington Group
11501 Lake Underhill
Road
Orlando, FL 32825
Telephone: 407-382-7005
Fax: 407-382-6141
E-mail: info@harrington-group.com
Web: www.harrington-group.com
Harrington Software Solutions help
increase efficiency, reduce costs, and drive success
while managing your quality management process.
• Interactive filtering
• Security management
High Performance Analytical
Software Solutions
The STATISTICA product line is utilized across
many industries by leading global corporations
in areas such as manufacturing, semiconductors,
pharmaceutical, chemical, petrochemical, food
processing, automotive, heavy equipment, insurance,
telecom, R&D, and others. STATISTICA is used in
mission-critical manufacturing applications and in
regulated FDA controlled industries.
STATISTICA has achieved an unprecedented record
of recognition from both users and expert reviewers.
STATISTICA has received the highest rating in every
comparative review in which it has been featured
since its first release in 1993.
Visit ASQ’s Quality
Resource Directory
at http://www.asq.org.
StatPoint,
Technologies, Inc.
2325 Dulles Corner
Boulevard, Suite 500
Herndon, VA 20171
Telephone: 540-364-0420
Fax: 540-364-0420
E-mail: info@statgraphics.com
Web: www.statgraphics.com
Professionals worldwide trust STATPOINT’s line
of powerful statistical software, including our
flagship software STATGRAPHICS© Centurion XV
and STATGRAPHICS© Centurion Mobile for pocket
devices, and our new editions, STATGRAPHICS©
Centurion XV BiLingual and MultiLingual for instantly
interchanging date input/output languages.
January 2008 • QP 65
 Special Advertising Section

Air Academy Associates EuroQuest IBS

1650 Telstar Drive, Suite 110 8351 Roswell Road, Suite 171 125 Hartwell Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80920 Atlanta, GA 30350 Lexington, MA 02421
Telephone: 800-748-1277 Telephone: 800-355-3876 Telephone: 781-862-9002
Fax: 719-531-0777 Fax: 770-395-0737 Fax: 781-862-9003
E-mail: aapa@airacad.com E-mail: mail@euroquest.net E-mail: info@ibs-us.com
Web: www.airacad.com Web: www.euroquest.net Web: www.ibs-us.com
Air Academy Associates is a leading provider of EuroQuest specializes in consulting, ISO 14000, ISO IBS offers QA/QC quality management, shop floor
continuous improvement-related consulting and 9000, ISO/QS-9000 implementation, and Six Sigma. control, and platform independent Web-based
training services, textbooks, training aids, and software solutions. Companies reduce cost for
software. Our competitive Excellence program George Group, Inc. ISO 9000/14000, ISO/TS 16949:2002, and FDA 21
provides clients with the strategy, methods, tools, 13355 Noel Road #1600 CFR Part 11 standards. Products include document
and techniques needed to survive and evolve. Dallas, TX 75240 control, corrective action, internal assessments,
Telephone: 800-777-8066 employee training, calibration, APQP, PPAP,
American Society for Quality Fax: 972-458-9229 FMEA, and SPC. IBS is an ISO 9001:2000
600 North Plankinton Avenue E-mail: info@georgegroup.com registered company.
Milwaukee, WI 53203 Web: www.georgegroup.com
Telephone: 414-272-8575 George Group is a global leader in designing and iGrafx
Fax: 414-765-8671 implementing value-based Six Sigma programs. 7585 SW Mohawk Street
E-mail: sales@asq.org What distinguishes us, according to our clients, is Tualatin, OR 97062
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ASQ offers a variety of individualized public courses resources and experience, proprietary software, and Fax: 503-691-2451
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66 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
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January 2008 • QP 67
ASQ’s Quality Management Journal is your
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 BY BILL ASHWORTH QUALITY IN THE FIRST PERSON
From Pizza to Quality
Job experiences essential to a quality career
I HAVE ALWAYS considered myself a blue
collar quality professional. Growing up, one
thing my father impressed upon me was
to never turn down an opportunity to
learn something new, because who
and what we are is truly the sum
of our experiences. I have always
remembered those words.
In my youth, I held a number
of jobs, mostly to have money for date
nights. Looking back, I gained a great deal
of knowledge from those opportunities.
In 1972, I was hired to work part time as
general shop help. The shop machinists
took me under their wings and taught me
to read blueprints, perform setups and
operate various production machines.
After graduation, I worked at a local
pizzeria, working my way up to store
manager while completing my welding
technology degree from a vocational tech-
nical school. As store manager, I learned
the value of controlling costs, forecasting
materials and personnel, and the impor-
tance of team leadership. Unbeknownst to
me, these skills laid the foundation for my
future experiences.
Along the career path
My career path took me to the U.S. Air
Force, where I worked as a precision mea-
suring equipment (PME) specialist. In the
military, I learned discipline, adherence to
specifications and standards. I also com-
pleted my studies in electrical engineering
at Oklahoma University.
I was working as a welder and
PME technician, but I was not done
learning, so I returned to vocational
school and graduated with a degree
in machine tool and die. I later moved
to San Antonio to take a job as a soil
exploration technician. It was there
that I not only learned about soil strata
classification, but also about working
in a team environment.
After two years, I was hired as a qual-
ity technician, working on turbofan jets
and Rolls Royce engines. I received a
These skills laid the foundation for
my future experiences.
valuable education in coatings, plasma
spray, furnace operations and nonde-
structive testing.
At this point in my career, I had
amassed a widely varied education and
thousands of hours of practical experi-
ence, but something was missing—direc-
tion. That was about to change.
Moving into quality
I was hired as a quality technician at
TexTek Plastics, and the quality manager,
who had vast experience in quality appli-
cations, was impressed with my diverse
education and experiences. He per-
suaded me to pursue certifications
as a quality technician and quality
engineer.
Thanks to my ASQ training, I
visualized a whole new world of quality
applications. We launched automated statis-
tical process control (SPC) data collection
and performed factorial experimentation
on the machine cycles, which reduced cycle
times and provided dynamic preventative
actions.
To support our new coordinate measur-
ing machine (CMM), I received training
from the Zeiss Corp. as a certified CMM
programmer and service technician. In
1991, TexTek Plastics and I were fea-
tured in Plastics Technology magazine
for world’s best performance in quality
systems innovation.
I joined the Lancer Corp. in 1992,
and the opportunity to apply what I had
learned immediately presented itself. The
company was facing a 40% recycle rate on
the shop floor and 20% customer returns.
Applying life cycle testing, SPC on shop
floor operations, design of experiments
on critical processes and ISO systems
January 2008 • QP 69

ASQ
Quality
Press
Your one-stop shop for the very best
books, standards, and training
materials for your organization’s
continuous improvement efforts.
http://qualitypress.asq.org
Business Continuity Management
IS YOUR
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70 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
QUALITY IN THE FIRST PERSON
application, we reduced the recycle rate to 4% and customer
returns to 1.5%.
In 1993, I returned to the aerospace industry as a director
of quality and engineering. The owner was a brilliant man who
provided me with an extensive education in advanced coatings,
metallurgy and aerospace applications. During my time there, I
returned to school to study engineering.
In 1999, I was hired into my current position at Standard
Aero, which has provided me the opportunity to apply the
knowledge and experiences I have developed during my 30
years of training. Standard Aero has given me the opportunity
to help shape the quality direction of a world class organization.
Although my time here has been genuinely rewarding, I
continue to learn. I am a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and
RABQSA ISO 9001 lead assessor, have extensive training in
lean manufacturing and a master’s degree in engineering.
CARE TO SHARE?
Our readers are interested in stories like yours. If you’d like
your story to be considered for publication in Quality in the
First Person, e-mail editor@asq.org and share your journey.
Continued operations in the event of a disruption, whether due
to a major disaster or a minor incident, are fundamental
requirements for any organization.
Over the last few years, our country has experienced a number
of natural disasters and deliberate events that have interrupted
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Continuity Management is an evolving discipline that allows
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BSI, a world leader in publishing business standards, has
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Six Sigma, lean concerns
Looking at what is developing in manufacturing today, I am
very concerned we are losing our way. All I hear about is Six
Sigma and lean. These two principles, although valuable, are
only tools that help the quality professional provide continual
For the minds that can
improvement to systems and product. make sense out of this
Watching the news is painful. Every time I see a new product
recall, I shake my head and say, “Where is receiving inspection,
quality planning and supplier surveillance?” One of the absolutes
I have learned in my journey is that the company looks to
quality professionals to provide direction and demand strict
adherence to standards, specifications and quality principles. As
a quality professional, I take great pride in this responsibility. Co-published by ASQ and the American
Statistical Association, Technometrics
focuses on statistics for the physical,
chemical, and engineering sciences with
new statistical techniques and innovative
applications of known statistical methods.
BILL ASHWORTH is the director of quality improvement at Subscribe today.
Standard Aero (San Antonio) Inc. He earned a master’s degree
in engineering from Kennedy-Western University, Cheyenne,
WY. He is a certified quality technician and quality engineer.
Ashworth is a senior member of ASQ. SUBSCRIBE AND LEARN MORE
www.asq.org/pub/techno

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January 2008 • QP 71
 3.4 PER MILLION
Forget Silver Bullets
And Instant Pudding
Innovation, leadership needed for organizational success
A PERSON once wrote a letter to W.
Edwards Deming and asked for the for-
mula to quality improvement. The person
offered to pay whatever price Deming
required. This led to what has become one
Deming’s most famous quotes: “There is
no instant pudding.”1
When you read this story, the ludicrous-
ness of the formula request will become
immediately apparent.
In the late 1990s, when Six Sigma began
to be deployed outside of Motorola, a fre-
quent comment was heard: “Six Sigma is
not a silver bullet.” Six Sigma was never—
and has not become—a silver bullet.
For someone to suggest Six Sigma is a
silver bullet is another ludicrous comment
that leaves you wondering: Is that person
trying to make a real point or a signifi-
cant contribution? Did this person have
anything to say?
Could this possibly be the same person
who had written to Deming?
Combining two ingredients
As an industry, we seem to have
transcended from the territorial wars
between the Six Sigma and lean camps
to some higher level of consciousness.
We have accepted there is a natural
synergy between the two disciplines
that, in most cases, is beneficial to most
organizations.
That synergy is not restricted to lean
and Six Sigma. Most business improve-
ment initiatives can be integrated, de-
pending on the application, to benefit an
organization.
72 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
BY MIKE CARNELL
Does this not-so-new lean and Six
Sigma alliance finally complete the for-
mula for instant pudding? Have we finally
created the silver bullet? Probably not.
When you take the philosophy and tools
from lean and mix them with the tools
and methods of Six Sigma, you have a
pretty close approximation of the Toyota
Production System (TPS).
Different pudding recipes
The TPS is not a secret and has not been
for decades. It has been poked, probed
and studied by experts all over the world.
Nobody can deny the success it delivered
to Toyota. Does that make it the silver bul-
let for other organizations? Probably not.
The now legendary Toyota triumvirate
of Taiichi Ohno, Yasuhiro Monden and
Shigeo Shingo had a vision and strategy
for a system that would create value for
their organization:
• They stayed the course and developed,
implemented and tweaked that system
until it fit the organization like a glove.
• They did not spend their time looking
for a prefabricated answer to all their
problems that might or might not work
in their organization.
• They took the time to understand
their organization and their business
and created a system that delivered
the things they knew would make
them a force in their industry.
After decades of work and tenacity,
Toyota is reaping the rewards while thou-
sands of people read, study, benchmark
and pontificate. Others look for that drop-
in solution without putting in the work
and creativity demonstrated by Ohno,
Monden and Shingo.
We saw a similar situation when Gen-
eral Electric (GE) became visible to the
public as it deployed Six Sigma. Had GE
“ There is a codependency
between method and
organization that cannot
”
be ignored or circumvented.
discovered instant pudding? Had it found
a silver bullet?
People rushed to benchmark GE. Un-
fortunately, people who spend their lives
rushing from one benchmark to the next
because they have an innate lack of cre-
ativity typically lack the same creativity
when they benchmark. They benchmark
the convenient, the obvious and, often-
times, the irrelevant. They ask:
“Did the GE program succeed because
Black Belts did X number of projects per
year in X amount of time per project? Was
the average value per project one of the
real factors that drove the GE success?”
GE was a fast moving train when Six
Sigma jumped on. Several initiatives such
as work out, change acceleration process
and demand flow technology were already
implemented. The Jack Welch leadership
team had been in place and was experi-
enced in leading the GE organization.
When considering GE and Six Sigma
together, keep in mind:
Courageous leaders have vision, take time to comprehend
their organizations and create an indigenous strategy
to fit their organization.
• Was Six Sigma a silver bullet or just an-
other piece of a strategy developed for
and indigenous to GE?
• Who could possibly believe they could
copy the GE method without the GE
culture?
• How often do we see a GE internal ex-
pert—who can deliver effectively inside
the GE culture—struggle when he or
she tries to deliver something in the GE
way outside the GE culture?
There is a codependency between
method and organization that cannot be
ignored or circumvented.
Follow the leader?
Let’s pretend you could benchmark and
copy the GE or TPS. Does anyone hon-
estly believe that he or she can beat either
one of these giants at a game in which the
giants have so much experience? These
are not organizations that typically go
head to head with an upstart company
learning lessons from the masters.
As is the case in anything we study
in the business world, there are winners
and losers. What happens when one
company follows a cutting edge company
and comes up with an entirely differ-
ent outcome? An outcome that is much
less spectacular than what the company
wanted from the model they copied so
diligently.
Perhaps the answer is not in the initia-
tives. Most recently, we have developed
a bad case of puppy love with the word
“innovation.” We love the word but not
MORE CONTENT ONLINE
Read previous 3.4 per Million columns at www.qualityprogress.com.
necessarily the reality of innovation.
Management teams are now engaged
in their latest form of leadership plagia-
rism as they again search for their silver
bullet that will unlock the innovative spirit
burning inside their workforce. With a few
published conjectures, teams have even
begun to wonder if their last silver bullet,
Six Sigma, mortally wounded innovation.
The teams pose these questions as they
move from a canned implementation of
Six Sigma to a canned implementation of
lean Six Sigma to a canned implementa-
tion of innovation. They are again turning
a blind eye to the idea of leadership
innovation as they search for a silver bul-
let or instant pudding to transform their
organizations.
Innovation, passion and vision
If we benchmark the people who have
delivered the great organizations, they
were innovators. As much as we profess
our admiration for Welch, it wasn’t long
ago that he was blazing his own trail
through corporate America. Most had no
clue or understanding of what he wanted
to accomplish.
Without regard for his detractors,
Welch moved forward, just as Ohno,
Monden and Shingo did. They all moved
on passion and vision rather than political
correctness.
There are no silver bullets or instant
pudding waiting to be discovered. There
never has been and never will be. This
does not mean there is not some benefit
to be gained by an organization embracing
Six Sigma, the new and improved lean Six
Sigma or some other initiative.
The closest we will come to a silver
bullet is innovative leadership. Coura-
geous leaders have vision, take time to
comprehend their own organizations and
create an indigenous strategy to fit their
organization.
As a culture, we seem to pick and
choose what we want to use from Deming.
One of the documents he left us was his
list of obstacles to improvement in which
he identifies two key concepts that afflict
our business improvement efforts.
The first is searching for examples to
steal, like attempting to find magical pud-
ding recipes or silver bullets.
The second is that we search for help
incestuously. We look for those experts
that know our business.
Deming hypothesized that perhaps
those experts know everything about our
business except how to improve it. Per-
haps the key to innovative leadership is to
follow Deming’s advice. Maybe the innova-
tive leader doesn’t know the business or
refuses to settle for the drop-in solution.
REFERENCE
1. The Ohio Quality and Productivity Forum Roundtable,
“Deming’s Point Seven: Adopt and Institute Leadership,”
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:zgnl94zrAO4J:www.
oqpf.com/download/demings_point_7.html+quality,
productivity+and+the+competitive+position+%22Instant+
pudding%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us.
MIKE CARNELL is president and CEO
of CS International in New Braunfels,
TX. He earned a bachelor’s degree in
business administration from
Arizona State University.
January 2008 • QP 73
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governing documents.

Ready, Aim, Fire
Hit the mark for personal excellence
PERHAPS YOU’VE heard quality is a
journey, not a destination. So many have
uttered various versions of this quote
that it’s difficult to know who the actual
originator was.
In honor of the new year, I want to
share something about the importance
of getting where you want to go by first
understanding why you want to go there,
and then figuring out how you’re going to
get there and how to know when you’ve
arrived.
Just over 10 years ago, QP published
an article titled “Goals + Alignment +
Love = Success.”1 Love? Today, we might
call it passion. The premise of the article
is not too different from that of this one.
Three elements lead to the attainment of
a desired outcome or objective. We might
disagree about what those three elements
are called or in what order they need to be
considered, but there can be agreement
on there being at least three important
considerations.
Within an organization, the three
elements and the outcome are typically
something like policy + strategy + tactical
plan = goal attainment. This is a pretty
good approach, but it seems to lack a bit
of heart. Where’s the passion? Where’s the
fire? How many of your co-workers feel
fired up about helping your organization
succeed?
This is why I’ve converted my approach
PLEASE COMMENT
If you would like to comment on this article or weigh in on quality career
challenges, please go to www.qualityprogress.com, or e-mail editor@asq.org.
BY DIANE G. KULISEK CAREER CORNER
to one that includes “fire,” and the energy
that word implies. Specifically, “ready,
aim, fire.” Think of this approach as you
would an arrow hitting a target. Your plan
is to be an archer and use a bow and ar-
row to achieve an objective. Your tactics
are your form as an archer. Your mark of
excellence is the bull’s-eye at the center of
the target.
Daisetz Suzuki said, “In the case of ar-
Overcoming inertia is essential.
chery, the hitter and the hit are no longer
two opposing objects but are one reality.”2
I simply say, “Become the arrow.”
Get ready
Before endeavoring to shoot an arrow, it
is essential to have a reason to do so. I
do it because I find it fun and have many
friends who also enjoy it. Fun and friend-
ship are among my personal values.
I’ve made a little bit of a game with
my personal values by trying to figure out
how many begin with each letter of the
alphabet. At least five personal values
begin with “f”: freedom, fairness, faith,
friendship and fun. My values certainly
aren’t limited to these, but this example
might help you identify your own personal
values.
Values can also be viewed as the
reasons we establish and uphold our
personal policies. Although “fire” is at
the end of my three considerations for
goal attainment, as is often the case with
systems, the end and the beginning are
the same. Begin with the fire of passion
and use that passion to sustain you as
you strive to attain your goal.
In other words, begin with what mat-
ters most for you. This is the foundation
on which you build your life in a way that
supports you so that you, in turn, best sup-
port the world around you. A book titled
Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow
relates well to this concept.3
Aim: see the big picture
How do you get from where you are to
where you want to be? You need a plan.
The first part of a plan is often called a
strategy. It’s the big picture. Think of a
strategy or a plan as a map with a com-
pass, car and road. Even today’s global
positioning systems start with satellite
views of the planet.
What is your big picture? How do you
integrate your values into your life? Each
big goal needs to fit into that picture.
Returning to the example of the archer’s
bow as one analogy for a plan, it is the
January 2008 • QP 75
 CAREER CORNER

tool that guides the arrow to the target. It
encompasses an inherent method of posi-
tioning the arrow and the latent potential
to provide significant power toward hitting
the target.
However, because the bow does not
specifically inject mechanical power into
the process, it’s not enough to get the ar-
row to the mark by itself. From an organi-
zational perspective, you might view a bow
as the analogy for a strategic plan. The
point is that, whether you view your plan
as a map with a compass or as a bow, each
aligns those who will provide energy to a
process with both values and objectives.
You might say a well-developed strate-
gic plan simply serves to connect values
(or policies) to desired outcomes (or
objectives). The difficulty of connecting
values to desires is why so many organiza-
tions seem to struggle with their planning
processes.
It’s hard to lead a large enterprise to
a desired objective if the fundamental
values of the organization haven’t been
clearly identified and communicated and,
therefore, aren’t the foundation on which
the strategic plan is built. I find strategic
planning much easier to accomplish at a

FRESH
personal level.

Aim: apply power

So, you know why you want something,
and you can see how to get there from
SPC charts here, but how do you actually do it? “One
foot after the other” is sometimes the most

Instantly fundamental solution.

When I first started to write, my men-
from any data tors told me, “Just do it!” Either way,

source overcoming inertia is essential. Overcom-

ing inertia and sustaining motion requires
steam—or energy.
If you take the example of the map
and compass for your strategic plan, this
Point,
P i click,
li k chart
would be when you need to fill your gas
tank and turn the key in your ignition. If
Download a 30-day trial at www.pqsystems.com you like the example of the archer’s bow,
CHARTrunner is SPC software that fetches data from Excel, Access, this is where you would ready your arrow
Oracle, SQL Server, and other databases to generate up-to-the-minute by removing it from the quiver and placing
charts. It is the only process charting software that always provides the shaft on the arrow rest and the nock
fresh charts with no on the bowstring.
importing, exporting, To continue with each example, you’d
copying, or pasting. supply gas to the engine by pressing your
You’ve really got to foot on the accelerator. To send the arrow
see it to believe it. on its way, the archer would pull back on
the bow string and the arrow. In each case,
the direction taken would be toward the
desired destination—the end point of your
map for a car or the center of the target for
the arrow.
All these actions are tactics. A tactic is a
procedure or set of maneuvers to achieve
an end, aim or goal. Think of tactics as be-
North and South America Australia and Asia Europe and Africa
Call 800-777-3020 800-777-3020 03-9770-1960 01704-871465 ing hands-on or related to the word tactile,

76 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
which means “perceptible to the sense of 3. Marsha Sinetar, Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow, DIANE G. KULISEK of Simi Valley, CA,
Dell, 1987. is president of CAPAtrak LLC and an
4
touch; tangible.” To complete the process 4 Answers.com, www.answers.com/topic/tactics?cat= independent quality management
technology. consultant, writer and motivational
of aiming, you must have a tactical plan— 5. Excerpted from Philip Stein’s “Effective Measurement of speaker. She holds a master’s degree
one that puts actions in motion, overcom- Business Performance” at the May 1998 ASQ Annual Quality in engineering management from
Congress, www.asq.org/learn-about-quality/metrics/ California State University, Northridge.
ing inertia. overview/overview.html. Kulisek is a senior member of ASQ
6. BrainyQuote.com, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/ and active with the ASQ Food, Drug and Cosmetic Division,
m/michelangelo.html. and ASQ San Fernando Valley Section 706. She holds ASQ
Fire certifications as a manager of quality/organizational excel-
lence and quality engineer.
This is where that tactical energy is re-
leased into your personal process accord-
ing to your plan. If done effectively, this
takes you to the finish line, hits the mark,
raises the bar and brings you satisfaction
and success.
If you identified your values while
getting ready, took careful aim with your
strategic and tactical planning—making
sure your values clearly flowed through
one to the other—the result of your fire
should be pretty close to your mark.
How do you know whether you hit your
mark? With a map, you can tell by looking
at the signs, checking your compass or
asking a passerby. When an arrow hits a
target, the result is clear. Are you in or
near the bull’s-eye?
ProFicient is InfinityQS’ latest release
TM
You also need indicators to help you
understand whether you’ve hit your mark
for excellence. Make sure you’ve identi- of its industry-leading SPC software with
fied effective, measurable or readily verifi-
able attributes (yes/no or did/didn’t) to
new features and enhancements.
determine your outcomes for each goal.
Determining what those measures ProFicient automates data collection and analysis on the plant
or indicators should be is the subject of floor, helping operators and quality professionals make intelligent
numerous books, articles and training pro- decisions to improve their processes in real-time, dramatically
grams. ASQ’s website is a great resource. reducing scrap and rework. This software release offers new
Check out the “Metrics Overview” under features and upgrades including Job Controlled Data Entry,
the topic “Using Data.”5
Hierarchical Corporate Grouping, a Performance Buffer, increased
As you embark on your journey toward
database security, support of ANSI/ISA 95 Requirements,
success, I’ll leave you with a quote from
and many other enhancements. For more information and a
Michelangelo: “The greatest danger for
free trial CD, call 1-800-772-7978.
most of us is not that our aim is too high
and we miss it, but that it is too low and
we reach it.”6 Efficient manufacturing. ProFicient software.

REFERENCES
1. James A. Tompkins, “Goals + Alignment + Love = Success,”
Quality Progress, October 1997, pp. 52-55, www.asq.org/qic/
display-item/index.pl?item=13160.
2. Eugen Herrigel, Zen in the Art of Archery, Random House,
www.infinityqs.com 1.800.772.7978
1981.

January 2008 • QP 77
 STATISTICS ROUNDTABLE
A Preference for Parity?
Nobody gets fired up about trying just to match the competition
YOU RARELY hear coaches encourage
their teams to get out there and tie. So
why do banks, restaurants, consumer
goods companies and others try so hard
to match their competition? I’ve actually
heard brand managers tell researchers not
to work too hard on a particular project.
“We’re just trying to achieve parity.” Some
achievement!
Parity has all the fireworks of the 5th
of July. Whatever happened to “Go for the
throat!” and “We’re going to grab the mar-
ket”? Why would anyone think it requires
more work to beat the competition than to
achieve parity?
While I’m on the subject, what the heck
is parity, anyway? If, when time runs out,
two teams have the same score, does that
mean they are equal in talent and capabil-
ity? I doubt it. If parity means things are
identical, then it can’t exist in the tangible
world because no two man-made things
are identical. So perhaps parity means the
Decision rules for preference
testing / FIGURE 1
β = 0.10
0.45 0.46 0.47 0.48 0.49 0.50 0.51 0.52 0.53 0.54 0.55 0.56 0.57 0.58 0.59 0.60
78 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
BY LYNNE B. HARE
difference isn’t really noticeable or impor-
tant. But important to whom, I wonder.
Who gets to decide?
In the consumer goods industry, a
common tool used to measure strength
against competition is the preference
test. Researchers present consumers with
brand X and brand Y and ask them which
they prefer. The order is usually position
balanced: half get X first, and then Y, while
the other half gets the reverse order. Test-
ing can be done blind or branded, in house
or in a central location like a shopping
mall. But the objective is to learn how one
product stacks up against another, and the
testing is meant to be fair and unbiased.
If the preference test finds a difference at
some reasonably low probability level, you
can comfortably declare that a difference in
the consuming population exists. But a fact
that too often goes dismissed or misunder-
stood is this: If the test doesn’t detect a dif-
ference, you don’t get to say the samples are
α = 0.05
“
Parity has all the fireworks of the
5th of July. Whatever happened
to “Go for the throat!” and
“We’re going to grab the
market”? Why would anyone
think it requires more work to
beat the competition than to
achieve parity?
”
the same. Failure to find a difference doesn’t
mean it doesn’t exist; it simply means you
didn’t find it. Not finding it could mean
you were unlucky, or it could mean the
difference is smaller than the test’s ability to
detect it—also called a test’s power.
The next challenge is to build a test
with the right comfort and power. By com-
fort, I mean a low probability of declaring
a difference from competition when there
is none (or very little). This is generally
called a Type I error, and its probability is
denoted by α (alpha). Similarly, missing an
existing difference is called a Type II error,
and its probability is denoted by β (beta).
The power of the test is 1-β.
Companies should want to keep α low.
That is, they should want to be sure the
work resulted in a change that might lead
to increased growth. At the same time,
they would want to keep β low so they
don’t miss opportunities when they come
along.
You can build a test to any specifica-
tion you like (or can afford since testing
isn’t free). You need to know how much
difference you want to detect—call that
δ—and you need to know the values of α
and β.
 For example, let’s say you want to im-
prove formula X. If there is no difference
in preference between it and its new and
improved version, Y, then the percentage
of the population preferring X will be 50%.
The population proportion will be P0 = 0.50.
Further, let’s say you’re willing to take a 5%
chance of saying you’ve improved X when
you really haven’t, α = 0.05.
At the same time, you would like to
industry standard of a certain sample size, or
this other sample size is where “the numbers
stabilize.” My favorite is, “Well, I’m not a stat-
istician, but … ” I always want to finish the
statement with “I play one on television.”
There is no industry standard, and the
numbers don’t stabilize, whatever that
means. There is an effective equation a
layperson might not think is a pretty sight,
so get some sound statistical advice if you
none exists; likewise for beta.
As a matter of fact, it is possible to bal-
ance the testing costs against the risks and
associated costs to find a sample size with
maximum expected net gain for any given
test. But it takes detailed study, careful
calculation and an understanding that
there is no such thing as parity.
NOTES

make sure that if Y is better to the point that
it has a proportional acceptance as high as
P1 = 0.55, or 55% of the population, you have
an excellent chance of detecting it—90% or
β = 0.10. The difference between the as-
sumed preference for the original formula
and the new preference proportion you
wish to detect is δ = 0.55 - 0.50 = 0.05, or 5%.
How many individual preferences should
you obtain? There’s a formula for that:
2
Zα P0 (1 − P0 ) + Zβ P1 (1 − P1 )
n=
δ Thinking Business ... Driving Improvement
are uncertain.
Actually, the equation is just the begin-
ning. There are real experts in decision
science who can help with the determina-
tion of appropriate alphas, betas, deltas
and so on. Certainly, the selection of alpha
should depend on the cost, as well as the
probability of declaring a difference when
Thanks to Keith Eberhardt for his always careful reviews and
helpful suggestions.
LYNNE B. HARE is director of applied
statistics at Kraft Foods Research
in East Hanover, NJ. He received a
doctorate in statistics from Rutgers
University. Hare is a past chairman
of ASQ's Statistics Division and is
a fellow of ASQ and the American
Statistical Assn.

It looks scary, but it’s not that bad. Zα is

the standard normal deviate correspond- There is light at the end
ing to 5% of the area under the normal of the tunnel ...
curve (Figure 1). Here, you put all 5% in
the upper tail because you would move
from formula X to Y only if you saw an
increase in the preference proportion.
Zβ is the area under the normal curve
corresponding to 10% in the tail of the
distribution, indicating a 10% chance that
you might miss the improvement if it ex-
isted. The other symbols, P0, P1 and δ, are
defined earlier—in this example, n = 853.
A word of caution: don’t go to strangers
with this. There are consumer testing “ex-
perts” who will say you don’t need to bother
with SAI Global’s
with the statistical rigor of sample size
Training, Auditing &
determination. Some will tell you there is an
Certification Services
PLEASE COMMENT For course dates & locations or to learn more
Prefer a different method to see how about auditing & certification services:
you stack up against the competition?
Call Visit
Post your remarks at www.quality
progress.com, or e-mail editor@asq.org.
800-374-3818 www.saiglobal.com

January 2008 • QP 79
 MEASURE FOR MEASURE
Short Supply
Outreach program needed for science, engineering fields
MANY PRACTITIONERS working in
science and engineering disciplines are
keenly aware of the shortage of qualified
technical candidates to fill current posi-
tions. The shortage will likely continue to
worsen with the retiring baby boomers.
LEARNING FROM OTHERS
The National Conference of Standard
Laboratories International’s education and
training outreach committee is learning
about the respective outreach programs
of the following professional organiza-
tions:
American Society for Engineering
Education (ASEE): ASEE is an organization
of individuals and institutions committed
to furthering education in engineering and
engineering technology.
Project Lead the Way (PLTW): PLTW
works to build strategic partnerships
among middle schools, high schools,
colleges and universities, business and
industry and provide students with the
rigorous, relevant, reality based knowl-
edge necessary to pursue engineering
or engineering technology programs in
college.
National Science Foundation: This
independent federal agency promotes the
progress of science, works to advance
national health, prosperity and welfare,
and secure the national defense.
American Assn. of Physics Teachers
(AAPT): AAPT’s fundamental goal is to
ensure the dissemination of knowledge of
physics, particularly through teaching.
National Science Teachers Assn.
(NSTA): NSTA is the world’s largest orga-
80 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
BY CHRISTOPHER L.
GRACHANEN
But these practitioners often are unaware
of what they can do as individuals to help
reverse this trend.
A number of activities can help pro-
mote the metrology field to students and
young adults. ASQ’s Measurement Quality
nization committed to promoting excel-
lence and innovation in science teaching
and learning.
American Society for Testing and
Materials (ASTM): ASTM is one of the
largest voluntary standards development
organizations in the world and a source
for technical standards for materials,
products, systems and services.
American National Standards
Institute (ANSI): As the voice of the U.S.
standards and conformity assessment
system, ANSI empowers its members and
constituents to strengthen the U.S. mar-
ketplace position in the global economy
while helping ensure the safety and
health of consumers and the protection of
the environment.
Institute of Electrical and Electron-
ics Engineers (IEEE): This is a profes-
sional association for the advancement of
technology. Through its global member-
ship, IEEE is an authority on areas ranging
from aerospace systems, computers
and telecommunications to biomedical
engineering, electric power and consumer
electronics.
Instrumentation Society of America
(ISA): ISA is a global, nonprofit organiza-
tion setting the standard for automation
by helping more than 30,000 worldwide
Division (MQD) and the National Confer-
ence of Standard Laboratories Interna-
tional (NCSLI) have partnered on several
projects to promote and enhance the
metrology field.
One major effort focuses on the cre-
members and other professionals solve
difficult technical problems, while enhanc-
ing their leadership and personal career
capabilities.
International Technology Education
Assn. (ITEA): ITEA is the professional
organization for technology, innovation,
design and engineering educators. Its mis-
sion is to promote technological literacy
for all by supporting the teaching of tech-
nology and promoting the professionalism
of those engaged in this pursuit. ITEA
strengthens the profession through state
and national legislative efforts, profession-
al development, membership services,
publications and classroom activities.
Science and Technology Education
Partnership (STEP): STEP helps students,
teachers and professional scientists work
together to make science and math fun
and exciting.
American Society of Mechanical En-
gineers (ASME): ASME promotes the art,
science and practice of mechanical and
multidisciplinary engineering and allied
sciences around the globe.
Society of Women Engineers (SWE):
SWE is an educational and service organi-
zation and driving force that establishes
engineering as a highly desirable career
aspiration for women. It empowers
Grassroots efforts proactively
led to the creation of an
outreach committee.
ation of job descriptions for metrology
practitioners that will be added to the U.S.
Department of Labor’s standard occupa-
tion classification system.
Individuals involved in this par-
ticular project recognized that neither
women to succeed and advance in
those aspirations and be recognized
for their life changing contributions and
achievements as engineers and leaders.
Society for Advancement of
Chicanos and Native Americans in
Science (SACNAS): The mission of
SACNAS is to encourage Chicano/La-
tino and Native American students to
pursue graduate education and obtain
the advanced degrees necessary for
science research, leadership and teach-
ing careers.
U.S. Science Olympiad: U.S. Sci-
ence Olympiad is a primarily American
elementary, middle or high school team
competition that requires knowledge of
various science topics and engineering
ability. More than 14,000 teams from 45
U.S. states and Canada compete each
year.
Women in Quality (WIC): This ASQ
network is a group of women and men
who strive to create an environment in
the quality profession that allows each
woman the ability to achieve her fullest
potential. WIQ provides the opportunity
to network with other women in the
quality profession to learn from on
another. —C.G.
MQD nor NCSLI had a focused outreach
effort for metrology education and train-
ing. This realization led to the creation
of the metrology education and training
outreach committee.
Committee action
The committee, formed under the aus-
pices of NCSLI, is comprised of MQD and
NCSLI members. The committee charter
includes its goal to “develop and support
initiatives and programs enabling metrol-
ogy education and training globally.”
Initial long range plans for the commit-
tee include:
• Help advertise and promote metrology
education and training programs.
• Support the expansion, enhancement
and development of metrology educa-
tion and training programs.
• Develop a clearinghouse of metrology
and education resources.
• Provide guidance and support for the
donation of test equipment to metrol-
ogy education and training programs in
universities and colleges.
During one of the initial committee
meetings, it was agreed that much could
be learned from other professional organi-
zations’ education and outreach programs,
and that liaison contacts with these orga-
nizations should be pursued (see “Learn-
ing From Others”).
Today, volunteers are sought to act as
READ MORE ONLINE
For more metrology related articles, visit www.qualityprogress.com.
liaisons on behalf of the committee and
establish relationships with each organi-
zation’s education and training outreach
programs.
In addition to liaison efforts, the com-
mittee established the following short
term objectives:
• Develop a multimedia outreach tool to
educate people about the metrology
field.
• Establish a test equipment donation
clearinghouse for schools with metrol-
ogy curriculums.
• Generate an outreach package for grad-
uating metrology students to inform
other students about metrology organi-
zations and other reference sources.
• Develop an outreach training program
for NCSLI section coordinators.
• Post metrology internship opportunities
on the NCSLI website.
Grassroots efforts—spearheaded by a
few MQD and NCSLI members focusing
on where tomorrow’s metrology profes-
sionals will come from—proactively led
to the creation of NCSLI’s education and
training outreach committee.
This committee will help coordinate
efforts to ensure a healthy metrology
workforce for the future.
NOTE
If you would like to find out more about NCSLI’s education
and training outreach committee, visit www.ncsli.org/
committees/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.dsp_chair_
info&position_id=164.1.
CHRISTOPHER L. GRACHANEN
is a master engineer/operations
manager for Hewlett-Packard’s
Houston metrology group and is
MQD’s secretary, certification chair
and NCSLI liaison. He is also NCSLI’s
south central U.S. region coordina-
tor, co-chair of NCSLI’s education
and training outreach committee and chair of NCSLI’s
outreach publication committee.
January 2008 • QP 81
Do you like what you’ve read?
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STANDARDS OUTLOOK
Product vs. System Quality
Nonconformance doesn’t always mean the system has failed
WE LIVE in an era in which complex
and technologically advanced products
are produced on a regular basis. Little
concern is given to the engineering and
advanced process capabilities that are
required to produce them.
The initial awe of the developments
forged during the dawn of the industrial age,
such as locomotives, machine tools, steam
engines and architectural wonders—made
possible by advancements in materials and
production capabilities—has faded to indif-
ferent acknowledgement.
With advancements in precision manu-
facturing, material properties, software
and process controls, there is an expecta-
tion that process variation can be pre-
cisely controlled and anomalies prevented
from reaching customers.
From the early times of manufactur-
ing, when the shift was made from artisan
manufacturing to interchangeable parts
and mass production, inspection of char-
acteristics, components and product were
sufficient controls to meet customer needs
and demands.
Not to oversimplify, but as the com-
plexity of the processes and products has
increased, we have found that the process
of inspection is insufficient to reduce the
risk of product failure leading to injury
and harm, let alone that the customer or
end user will reject the product as not
being fit for use.
The ability to produce complex prod-
ucts ranging from aircraft and spacecraft
to advanced lifesaving medical devices,
from computers and microprocessors to
the host of industrial and consumer prod-
ucts requires complex internal organiza-
tions. These organizations include a prod-
BY DALE K. GORDON
uct design and development process that
must work with production and support
functions while also being aligned with
the customer’s expectations—meeting
functional requirements and consistent
on-time delivery at a competitive price.
This complexity includes advanced
inventory management systems, complex
hiring and training of workers with specif-
ic skills and environmental management
of the workplace. Also required are finan-
cial and accounting systems to provide the
needed capital for investment in precision
No system is 100% error proof.
equipment to produce the product, pro-
gram and project management specialists
to assure on-time and on-cost completion,
and significant planning and development
of manufacturing capabilities.
Add to that the intricate problem of
transferring knowledge and requirements
to a vast, global supply chain that is
coupled with internal checks and proce-
dures to make sure all the aforementioned
activities work together harmoniously and
seamlessly.
QMS standards
The complexity of the modern manufac-
turing organization and the need to ensure
that all aspects of business processes are
focused on meeting organizational objec-
tives, including the primary mission of
customer satisfaction, has led to the devel-
opment of quality management system
(QMS) standards such as ISO 9001.
The purpose of a QMS similar to or
based on ISO 9001 is to help reduce the
variation not only in the product, but also
in the complex and integrated business
processes on which we have become so
dependent.
We know that the late W. Edwards
Deming defined a system as “a network of
functions or activities (subprocesses or
stages) within an organization that work
together for the aim of the organization.”1
In the ISO 9001:2000 Handbook, Jeff
Hooper wrote, “The system approach
to management is a quality manage-
ment principle that states: identifying,
understanding and managing interrelated
processes as a system contributes to an
organization’s effectiveness and efficiency
in achieving its objectives.”2
Nowhere in this statement does it say
anything about an organization’s accuracy
in meeting the customer requirements for
the product being delivered. This brings
us to a long-standing question from some
in the quality profession about answering
mail from customers.
Often, after being on the receiving end
of nonconformance or poor product qual-
ity, customers ask what, where or how the
failure occurred in the QMS to allow this
condition to reach their facilities.
Some are perplexed about how to
answer because the truth is that the
system might not have failed at all, but the
nonconformance was a result of common
cause variation in the business processes.
This allows for a certain amount of
January 2008 • QP 83
 STANDARDS OUTLOOK
variability to exist and ultimately results
in an overall process that is outside the ca-
pability of meeting 100% of the customer
requirements 100% of the time.
Concept of risk
The understanding that no system is 100%
error proof is one of the underlying rea-
sons we have the terms “producer’s risk”
and “consumer’s risk.” It doesn’t mean
the organization shouldn’t improve its
processes to reduce these types of errors,
but instead that the existence of a noncon-
formance does not necessarily mean the
QMS has failed.
This topic was briefly debated years
ago when the process of recalling Bridge-
stone/Firestone tires installed on certain
model Ford Explorers vehicles called into
question the capabilities of a QMS and its
relationships to the prevention of a non-
conformance from reaching the customer.3
Indeed, some nonconformance can be
directly linked to a departure or failure to
Inspection is insufficient to
reduce the risk of product failure.
84 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
follow the business processes, or a lack
of a necessary process to prevent the
nonconformance. But a nonconformance
might also occur due to system capability
or process averages found to be natu-
rally occurring or just from the inherent
intricacy of moving necessary information
within complex organizations and the
business processes being used.
One example of when the system is sta-
ble and functioning and yet failure occurs
is the inability to always meet customer
delivery requirements. In one situation,
which I personally believe to be common,
customer demand for product rose 20%
due to increased sales. The organization
gladly accepted the additional orders,
which increased production output needs
even though the company was already
struggling to meet current orders.
During the planning of product realiza-
tion (clause 7.1 and 7.2 of ISO 9001), man-
agement looked at stated capacity based
on optimal conditions and decided there
was enough excess capacity to handle the
increase. Yet when time came to deliver
on the customer due dates, shipments
were missed and the customer asked,
“What failed in your system to allow you
to miss a customer requirement?”
Using an example from Understand-
ing Variation: The Key to Managing
Chaos by Don Wheeler,4 if we had plotted
the output of the organization’s system
for many months prior to the increase in
demand, we would have seen an operation
at a steady state of output regardless of
the customer demand.
The steady state of this process could
be characterized as a process mean
bounded by some upper control limit. As
quality professionals, we know that to pro-
duce a change in the process mean, some
change to the process inputs has to occur
or variation has to be reduced.
In this case, the variables could consti-
tute every aspect of what goes on in the
organization’s system. Product delivery is
the culmination of all of the business pro-
cesses, and output is a measure of system
capability.
Variation is inherent
With respect to the quality system, where
was the failure? The failure, if there was
any, was management’s not recognizing
the differential between stated and real
capacity. That is the portion of capacity
that was consumed within the organiza-
tion by common cause variation such as
scrap, rework, supply chain delays or
engineering changes.
Again, Deming and Henry Neave
have told us variation is inherent in our
systems:
Most losses are unknown, often unrecog-
nized, not even suspected. We must learn
to look out for two kinds of mistakes, both
of which cause huge losses beyond calcu-
lation:
Mistake one: To react to any fault, com-
How did the increased production objective
affect Toyota’s quality management system?
plaint, mistake, breakdown, accident or
shortage as if it came from a special cause
when, in fact, there was nothing special at
all. In other words, when it came from the
system: from random variation due to com-
mon causes.
Mistake two: To attribute to common
cause any fault, complaint, mistake break-
down, accident or shortage when it actually
came from a special cause:
There is no way of always choosing cor-
rectly between the two types of causes, and
there never will be. So we need knowledge
of procedures aimed at minimum economic
loss from these mistakes. We need knowl-
edge of the capability of a system and the
knowledge about losses from demands that
lie beyond the capability of a system, de-
mands often made through the mechanism
of management by objective.
We need knowledge about the interac-
tion of forces, including the effect of the
system on the performance of people. In-
teraction of forces may work for good or ill.
Interaction of forces may reinforce efforts,
or it may nullify them.5
The concept is that within all the pro-
cesses a business has to execute, there is
inherent variation. If the variation in each
process is accumulated like a reliability
function multiplying each successive
amount to get a total system variation,
then the total variation could exceed an
acceptable system limit for preventing
any nonconformance from getting to the
customer.
AN EXPERT OPINION
Submit your questions about standards at www.qualityprogress.com. Editors will
consider them for the Expert Answers department.
Even in a reliability function, in which
we put items in parallel and not in a series
to improve the ability of the system, such
as contract reviews, engineering design
reviews, inspections, calibrations, audits
and configuration management, there is
still an accumulation of variation.
Even devotees of process control and
advanced quality methods are not immune.
Toyota, a recognized leader in manufactur-
ing quality, in its bid to grow and become
the world’s largest automaker by volume,
also had more than double the number
of recalls industrywide in 2005 than 2004,
even though the United States registered a
slight decline overall.6
The reality is that as organizations and
systems get bigger and the products being
produced become more complex, there
is greater opportunity for variances in
the business processes to have an effect
on the product being delivered to the
customer.
Toyota’s challenge
We can ask how the increased produc-
tion objective affected Toyota’s QMS. Did
the additional stress on the system allow
more variation to creep into all of Toyota’s
processes, driving the overall distributions
further outside its control limits (the QMS)
and, therefore, actually predicting the
increased recalls?
This is why the ISO 9001 QMS struc-
ture is built on Deming’s plan, do, check,
act cycle as an interactive function, not
a singular one. The QMS is all about
understanding where the process variation
exists and continually improving to meet
customer needs.
Should customers lower their expecta-
tions and not expect 100% conformance to
requirements? They absolutely should not.
When a nonconformance does occur that
reaches the customer, is that a failure of
the organization’s QMS? Not necessarily,
but it’s definitely another learning oppor-
tunity to reduce any system variables that
might allow a nonconformance to occur
and influence customer satisfaction.
For that situation, we have a corrective
action process built into the QMS. The
best protection of quality and customer
satisfaction is to make sure the corrective
functions of the QMS are effective and
functioning well.
REFERENCE AND NOTE
1. Henry R. Neave, The Deming Dimension, SPC Press, 1990.
2. Charles Cianfrani, Joseph Tsiakals and John E. “Jack” West,
eds., The ASQ ISO 9000:2000 Handbook, chapter two, Jeff
Hooper, “The Process Approach to Quality Management
System,” ASQ Quality Press, 2002, p. 16.
3. Susan E. Daniels, “Tire Failures, SUV Rollovers Put Quality
on Trial,” Quality Progress, December 2000, pp. 30-46.
4. Donald J. Wheeler, Understanding Variation: The Key to
Managing Chaos, SPC Press, 1993.
5. Neave, The Deming Dimension, see reference 1.
6. Joe Benton, “Toyota Recalls Near 800,000 for July,”
consumeraffairs.com, www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/
2006/07/toyota_recalls.html.
DALE K. GORDON is vice president of
quality for MPC Products in Skokie, IL.
He is an ASQ fellow, past chair of the
American Aerospace Quality Group
and one of the writers of the current
AS9100 aerospace standard. Gordon
earned a bachelor’s degree in indus-
trial engineering from General Motors
Institute (now Kettering University) in Flint, MI, and an MBA
from Butler University in Indianapolis.
January 2008 • QP 85
 QPTOOLBOX
Adjustable frequency drive
Yaskawa’s V1000 industrial adjustable ▼
frequency drive was designed for more
control in less space. The frame combines
a hybrid heat sink design to give it side-
by-side mounting capability, which allows
for multiple drives to be monitored and
maintained from a single enclosure.
The heat sink’s heat dissipation process
provides motor control systems with an
increased responsiveness and improved
energy efficiency.
At the high end, the V1000 reaches 25
hp, while reaching 1/8 hp at the low end.
The unit features a two-millisecond scan
cycle and an added safety input—EN954-1
Safety Category 3 and Stop Category—
which automatically stops the motor
faster at the first sign of trouble.
Call: 800-927-5292; visit: www.yaskawa.
com.
Remote hour meter ▼
Hyster has released an hour meter
with the ability to remotely acquire and
automatically track lift truck runtime. The
remote hour meter is housed in a 3” x 5”
box and links to a digital paging network.
The meter’s
network al-
lows opera-
tors to select
a specific time
for the device
to submit
truck runtime
data. Users
can log into the network and check this
information anytime from any computer.
Managers can use the network’s group-
86 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
ing capability to view an entire fleet or
specific units based on their settings with
the customizable LiftTraks web based soft-
ware interface. Optional global positioning
system capabilities are offered.
Call: 800-497-8371; e-mail: lorri.lewis@
hyster.com.
Simulation software
ESI Group’s VA One is simulation software
for vibroacoustic analysis and design. VA
One simulates the response of vibroacous-
tic systems across the frequency range.
The software enables noise and
vibration performance to be ac-
counted for at the design stage.
The VA One contains technol-
ogy for coupling the finite element
method, the boundary element
method and statistical energy
analysis in a single analysis.
The software enables users to
create more realistic models of noise and
vibration performance, reducing the time
spent creating and solving models.
Call: 312-327-5260; e-mail: contact.
ftpo@ubifrance.fr.
Quality management software
Version 2.0 of Horizons International Qual-
ity Management System integrates with
DynamicsGP and Horizons Manufacturing
Suite to support data collection in real
time and provide MS Excel-based data
exports.
The software aims to speed data
analysis for quality assurance purposes
and supports integration of a variety of
analysis tools used by quality assurance
departments.
Using built-in export functionality,
version 2.0 simplifies access to MS Excel
data, allowing quality assurance staff to
analyze and graph tasks using MS Excel
tools. Manufacturing control data, includ-
ing part numbers, routings and opera-
tions, are integrated into the software to
improve data retrieval and analysis.
Call: 914-202-9813; visit: www.hzs.com.
Motion system technology ▼
Philips Applied Technologies has developed
a technique that allows standard linear mo-
tors to simultaneously provide movement
along two axes rather than one.
NForcer technology allows designers
to reduce the number of motors and elec-
tronic drive modules required in equipment
such as pick-and-place machines.
NForcer technology enables horizontally
mounted linear motors to generate lift and
lateral motion, providing both axes of mo-
tion required in pick-and-place machines
from one motor. NForcer technology also
allows the production of precision levitated
platforms with six axes of controlled mo-
tion by using linear motors.
Call: 31-40-27-48882; visit: www.apptech.
philips.com.
GOT A QUALITY PRODUCT?
Please send your product description and photo to vfunk@asq.org.
Automation software
Fanfare’s iTest Team—the latest
entry in its iTest suite—allows
service providers to perform
system testing by executing
simultaneous commands to sev-
eral devices in their network to
simulate real-life network testing.
The software also captures
and records all testing informa-
tion and allows testers to recre-
ate and rerun every test, action
or command that was entered—even those
performed in months before.
In addition, the software provides a
communication platform that
allows users to share test as-
sets, includes multi-platform
support for Windows, Linux and
Solaris, uses multi-threading
for complex system testing and
supports plug-ins for develop-
ers using Eclipse.
Call: 650-641-5101; visit:
www.fanfaresoftware.com
▼
LED signaling system
Deposition Sciences has collab-
orated with Automatic Power
to release the light emitting
diode (LED) LR Marine Lantern
and light signaling system.
The company customized a
white light reflecting version of the dichroic
hybrid spectral metal coating to extend the
Marine Lantern’s range to more than 12
miles and up to 17.5 miles in areas of
higher transmis-
sivity.
The system
uses parabolic
mirrors made
from spectral
metal that is
formed to fit an
aluminum extru-
sion. The mirrors
are used to steer the output of on-board
LEDs into a pattern that maximizes the
LED’s collection efficiency.
Call: 707-573-6785; visit: www.depsci.
com.
RFID cabinet
Advanced Research has released Stor-
age+, a radio frequency identification (RFID)
cabinet for manufacturing, medical and
commercial industries.
The Storage+ cabinet tracks and pro-
vides real-time accountability for assets
and it also controls consignment equip-
ment and materials. The cabinet knows
what items it has inside, what items have
been removed and who took them.
The Storage+ is a commercial grade
cabinet fitted with RFID antennas and read-
ers for the purpose of auto-identifying all
items placed inside. The cabinet’s contents
are accessible through the internet and can
be set up to send e-mails when items are
low or out of stock.
Call: 248-475-4770; visit: www.
advresearch.com.
January 2008 • QP 87
 QPREVIEWS
Creating Your Lean Future
State: How to Move from
Seeing to Doing
Tom Luyster with Don Tapping, Productivity
Press, 2006, 128 pp., $45 (book).
The intent of Creating Your Lean Future
State: How to Move from Seeing to Doing is
to show how to implement a lean system
once the current and
future state maps have
been created.
The book divides the
process into three stages:
stabilize, standardize
and simplify. It then
includes two to three chapters that detail
how to complete each stage using methods
that include demand planning, operator
and machine balancing, and installation of
visual systems. The book also includes a CD
loaded with blank worksheets that can be
used while implementing a lean system.
The main strength of the book is how
the authors walk through calculating takt or
cycle times, performing line and operator
balancing, and installing the visual systems
in a logical sequence. However, the section
dealing with determining machine capacity
was confusing because of how the authors
described balancing assembly line labor.
It would have been helpful for them to go
into further detail regarding how to perform
the demand planning, kanban and software
improvement program (SWIP) calculations
given how important they are to the process.
Overall, the book accomplishes what it
set out to do—to show people the basics of
implementing a lean system. However, an
individual further along in the process will
need to purchase other books to fill in the
details.
Reviewed by Brian Cocolicchio
Quest Diagnostics, Teterboro, NJ
88 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
Environmental Management
Quick and Easy: Creating an
Effective ISO 14001 EMS in Half
The Time
Joe Kausek, ASQ Quality Press, 2007,
278 pp., $78.75 (book).
This handbook is an excellent reference
for quality and business professionals looking
for a guide to quick implementation of an ISO
14001 compliant emergency management
system (EMS). The book assumes the reader
brings in no knowledge of the standard or
how to implement an EMS.
The first few chapters offer a detailed
explanation of the ISO 14001 standard,
including the history and development of
the EMS, a clause-by-clause analysis of the
standard and brief case studies. The book
continues with extensive chapters on design-
ing, implementing and continuously improv-
ing the system, including process maps and
checklist examples for auditing the effective-
ness of the EMS. Illustra-
tions and examples within
each chapter are numer-
ous and helpful, and good
endnotes and references
offer the reader further
resources to explore.
One of the best features of the book is a
CD that offers templates for auditing, project
plans and management review agendas.
There is also an extensive Environmental
Protection Agency resource listing, including
33 guides and fact sheets related to energy
reduction, lead-free soldering, green power
and water conservation.
This book offers a good, all-purpose ap-
proach for developing an effective EMS and
would be a great reference for the seasoned
quality and business professional.
Reviewed by Linda Cubalchini-Travis
Simi Valley, CA
Fundamentals of Project
Management
James P. Lewis, Amacom, 2007, 164 pp.,
$14.95 (book).
The third edition of Fundamentals of
Project Management provides a quick, yet
authoritative, introduction to the discipline.
This series of books is
designed to be an easy
read, and the latest entry
is no exception with less
than 200 pages address-
ing misconceptions about
project management.
After a few introductory chapters, Lewis
explains each of the steps necessary for
managing a project and provides recom-
mendations and tools to aid each step. He
also explains the purpose of the Project
Management Institute, changes to the
project management body of knowledge
(PMBOK) and an overview of the work
breakdown structure, a useful tool for plan-
ning a project.
The strength of the book is that almost
all concepts of project management are
explained clearly and briefly. The primary
weakness is Lewis’ critique of the PMBOK in
the first chapters. But, overall, this book is
an effective introduction for anyone who is
interested in the essentials of project man-
agement and wants to make the process
work at their organizations.
Reviewed by Martin Tanco, University of
Navarra, San Sebastian, Spain
Incentive Pay: Creating a
Competitive Advantage
Dow Scott, executive editor, WorldatWork
Press, 2007, 238 pp. $29.95 (book).
Developed to provide insights from per-
sonnel specialists, this 16-chapter book is
offered as a university course textbook and
a practitioner’s reference. This is not a refer- The author develops the basics of Saunders’ book is well-written and
ence book with specifics related to incentive statistical reliability in the first five chapters. comprehensive, and it certainly belongs
pay. Rather, it is focused on the performance Then, following a treatment of parametric on the shelves of any statisticians work-
of people in work programs and provides and nonparametric life ing in reliability or engineers with a strong
ideas for effective incentives and rewards. distributions and estima- understanding of underlying statistical
Because of that focus, the book will be of tors, the book addresses distributions.
greatest interest to managers and execu- cumulative damage distri- Reviewed by I. Elaine Allen
tives focused on quality initiatives. butions and the analysis Babson College, Wellesley, MA
As a basic business reference, this is of dispersion. The final
a helpful read, although
it is complex because
chapters cover service
life, strength and durability, and maintenance
RECENT RELEASES
of the authors’ varied of systems. An appendix includes informa- The Satisfied Customer: Winners
writing styles and the tion on integration, probability and measure, and Losers in the Battle for Buyer
standalone nature of distribution transforms, and discrete and Preference
each chapter. However, it continuous distributions. Claes Fornell, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007,
is filled with ideas related The book is written at an advanced level, 256 pp., $27.95 (book).
to the management of requiring the reader to have taken calculus The Kaizen Event Planner
quality programs within organizations of all and a course in probability and statistics. Karen Martin and Mike Osterling, Productivity
types. There are summary exercises at the end of Press, 2007, 223 pp., $50 (book).
The book would be an ideal resource for each chapter, which makes the book suit- Medical Error and Patient Safety:
an executive team attempting to estab- able for an advanced reliability course. While Human Factors in Medicine
lish an incentive pay program within an not included, the exercises can be used with George A. Peters and Barbara J. Peters, CRC
organization in which quality initiatives are mathematical and statistical software. Press, 2007, 256 pp., $79.95 (book).
crucial. In addition, quality specialists and
personnel executives will be able to use
it as a reference in a joint work setting in
which an incentive pay program is devel-
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January 2008 • QP 89
 QPCALENDAR
To receive information or to register for
ASQ Education Courses and Conferences,
contact Learning Offerings, ASQ, 600 N.
Plankinton Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53203,
call 800-248-1946 or 414-272-8575, fax
414-272-1734 or visit www.asq.org.
FEBRUARY
4-5 Dynamics of Machinery.
Albuquerque. Call Machine Dynamics at
505-898-2094 or visit www.machinedyn.com.
4-5 ASQ Education Course. Systematic
Problem Solving for Sustained Improve-
ment with Quality Tools. Calgary, Alberta.
4-7 ASQ Education Course. Guide to
Process Improvement and Change.
Halifax, Nova Scotia.
4-8 ASQ Education Course. Introduction 18-19 ASQ Education Course. Using
to Quality Engineering. Toronto.
7-8 The Road to Sustainability:
Implementing Green and Seeing Gold.
Houston. Call APQC at 800-776-6976 or
visit www.apqc.org.
11-12 ASQ Conference. Lean Six
Sigma Conference: Sustainable Growth
Through Lean Six Sigma. Phoenix.
11-12 SCOR 8.0 Framework Training. 20-22 ASQ Education Course.
London. Visit the Supply-Chain Council at
www.supply-chain.org.
SAVE THE DATE
If you’d like your event included in QP Calendar, submit information at least three
months in advance to vfunk@asq.org. Non-ASQ organizations may list one event
per issue.
90 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
12-15 Performance Professional
Workshop Series. San Diego. Call the
International Society for Performance
Improvement at 301-587-8570 or visit
www.ispi.org.
13-14 ASQ Education Course. Lean
Enterprise. Phoenix.
17-23 Engineers Week. Alexandria,
VA. Call the National Engineers Week
Foundation at 703-684-2852 or visit www.
eweek.org.
18-19 ASQ Education Course. Blended 3-4 ASQ Conference. International
ISO 9001:2000 Lead Auditor Training.
Las Vegas.
18-19 ASQ Education Course. Lean
Six Sigma for Healthcare Executives.
Las Vegas.
Control Charts to Interpret Healthcare
Data. Las Vegas.
18-22 ASQ Education Course. Black
Belt/Quality Engineering Statistics.
Las Vegas.
18-22 ASQ Education Course.
Introduction to Quality Management.
Las Vegas.
Implementing and Auditing an ISO
9000:2000 Quality System. Las Vegas.
20-22 ASQ Education Course. Imple-
menting Statistical Process Control. Las
Vegas.
27 ASQ Conference. Customer-Supplier
Division 3rd Annual Symposium. Durham,
NC. Visit www.asq.org/cs.
28-29 Crafting Your Systems
Portfolio. Lisle, IL. Visit the Academic Quality
Improvement Program at www.aqip.org.
MARCH
Conference on ISO 9000. Orlando.
3-4 ASQ Conference. Quality in the
Space and Defense Industries. Cape
Canaveral, FL.
11-12 Demonstrating Reliability
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January 2008 • QP 95
 BACK TO BASICS
Building a Quality Team
Simple steps to get the rest of your company involved
EVERYONE HAS encountered this
problem at one time or another: The boss,
department head or top manager is seem-
ingly focused on all issues but quality.
Sure, they might talk the talk, but when
it comes to addressing quality, they don’t
feel it’s as important as “making money.”
H. Thomas Johnson described cost per-
formance limitations when he wrote, “Ac-
counting based measures of performance
drive employees to achieve targets of
sales, revenue and costs, by manipulation
of processes and by flattery.”1
How can you advance the cause of
quality when you’re the lone quality
initiator? A series of simple yet effective
actions can help you, the quality leader, di-
rect change and build momentum by tying
company objectives to operating profit.
Take control of the environment
First, focus on what you can control
within your function or job assignment.
Begin with selecting a project that has
solid monetary results. Examples include:
• Decreasing rework or scrap.
• Increasing productivity metrics.
• Improving process flow.
• Reducing nonvalue added steps.
Such projects can be highly visible and
go beyond the mundane, revealing sav-
ings. This is what managers relate to. Pick
a project that is quick and doesn’t require
excessive resources. Cost savings need to
be the first focus.
To pick a project within your con-
trol, communicate with people who see
discrepancies day in and day out, and
READ MORE ABOUT THE BASICS
Visit www.qualityprogress.com to read more Back to Basics articles on
topics such as root cause analysis, data collection and fishbone diagrams.
96 QP • www.qualityprogress.com
BY TERRY E. LOGAN
listen to them. It is likely these people will
become your first disciples and part of
your trusted network.
Show management evidence of quality-
committed companies that spend money
for continuous improvement and still see
increased efficiency margins on the bot-
tom line. Measurable improvements are
seen in return on assets, return on sales,
operating margin and even stock price.2
If you don’t have access to immedi-
ate financial feedback, try to stabilize or
standardize a process. You might be the
only one in your organization who sees
the process for what it is. Use tools like
flowcharts to demonstrate improvements
in direct labor or raw materials usage.
Be diligent. Don’t give up if you’re
not recognized after achieving success.
Commonly, leaders who don’t appreciate
quality initiatives require several wins
before they acknowledge success. As you
continue to succeed, you can look for the
reward of freedom to further your initia-
tives or, better yet, an extended budgetary
line item for future projects or tools.
No project? No problem
If you have little or no control over an
area or process, take another direction.
Be prepared for opportunities to express
the benefits of focusing on quality. Have
reference books to explain why quality is
important, and make sure the books are
short and to the point.
Additionally, have case studies to
prove your point on quality. Nothing bet-
ter supports your point than a published
success story. If possible, find a case
study that reflects your product, process
or service.
Pace yourself
Be patient—extremely patient. Continu-
ous improvement and a quality culture
can take several years to implement. This
is key while dealing with situations that
might arise when only you can envision
the final result. It’s easy to be patient with
yourself, but don’t expect everyone to
convert just because you’ve made some
improvements. There will be those who
insist your initial success was luck or
coincidence.
Finally, set a quality leadership
example, and be excited about quality.
Visible enthusiasm and commitment to
the company is critical to build functional
teams. Be ready to provide answers with
tangible company examples or case stud-
ies, and you’ll be on the way to convincing
management. The goal is to get managers
to see you as a competent resource and
someone who is looking out for the com-
pany. Should you succeed, your actions
and message will spread, and other quality
believers will surely be on board.
REFERENCES
1. H. Thomas Johnson, Relevance Regained, The Free Press,
1992.
2. Kevin B. Hendricks and Vinod R. Singhal, “The Impact of
Total Quality Management (TQM) on Financial Performance:
Evidence from Quality Award Winners,” www.efqm.org/
uploads/excellence/vinod%20full%20report.pdf.
TERRY E. LOGAN is principal of Atema
Inc., Chicago. He has a degree in
quality assurance and nearly three
decades of leadership in quality,
manufacturing, training, auditing,
program management and technical
services. Logan is a senior member of
ASQ and is a certified quality engineer
and auditor, and a quality systems auditor. He also holds
a manufacturing engineer certification from the Society of
Manufacturing Engineers.
 Quality. Accuracy. Trust.
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